By Sahar Foladi
Homelessness Week in City of Greater Dandenong will start with a day packed with important resources to the community on Tuesday 8 August.
The event led by Wayss and City of Greater Dandenong in Harmony Square aims to ensure residents are aware of early intervention services available to them.
Wayss general manager Shari McPhail said services have increased especially post Covid.
“Homelessness impacts families, singles, young and old people. There is no group who is not touched by it.
“We see that everywhere we turn, there’s an increase in people needing our assistance.
“We can have up to 300 families and individuals come into our access point in Dandenong per week.”
City of Greater Dandenong tops the state for residents who are homeless according to the latest census data.
In 2021, there were 2366 experiencing homelessness in Greater Dandenong – equivalent to one in 67 residents.
Ms McPhail said the demands for the services are so high it’s a challenge to focus on early intervention.
“At the moment because the demand coming into our doors is so great it feels a lot of the time we’re delivering a crisis response service when we want to re-orientate from crisis point to early intervention.”
Chief executive officer of Wayss Wayne Merritt will address the community event along with Greater Dandenong mayor Eden Foster. Other local community organisations will also provide information on the day.
“The more we can educate the community, people can seek assistance before it can become a desperate situation,” Ms McPhail said.
City of Casey experienced the highest increase in people seeking specialist homelessness services collection (SHSC) across all southern Melbourne council areas from 2017 to 2019.
More than 3,500 in Casey sought help in SHSC in 2021.
The federal government’s proposed $10 billion housing fund has yet to pass Parliament, with talks stalling with Greens and other opposition parties.
The housing package is said to provide 30,000 homes in five years with $500 million spent on affordable and social housing each year.
“The longer that these policies are debated the longer it will take to get housing on the ground,” Ms McPhail said.
Wayss calls for investment in long-term social and affordable housing, including safe homes for those impacted by family violence.
In opposition to the bill, The Greens are calling for more help for renters
The Housing Australia Fund proposal was rejected by 37 to 23 votes in the Senate.
If rejected for the second time, the Federal Government has threatened an early double-dissolution election.
The Homelessness Week event is at Harmony Square Dandenong on Tuesday 8 August, from 11am.
