By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Out in the parks, creeks and secret hideaways, a caring team are “boots on the ground” looking for Greater Dandenong’s rough sleepers.
Launch Housing’s Rough Sleepers Initiative is a squad of assertive outreach workers.
They respond to call-outs from the community, the council, Parks Victoria and go meet people sleeping in makeshift camps.
“We walk along the creek, we go to the parks and we find ways to proactively walk in parts of the council area that are hidden from plain sight.”
Their clients are offered a pathway to safe, stable housing and to help with the issues underneath.
Primary health, mental health, drug-and-alcohol and community agencies wrap around and support them.
“For people sleeping rough, there’s an increased vulnerability in terms of mortality,” says entry points manager Karren Walker says.
“They’re not just there overnight but come from a long pathway of trauma.”
In the 2020-’21 financial year, the RSI team has helped 572 people across Dandenong, Noble Park and Springvale.
But the numbers sleeping rough are declining.
Ms Walker says some clients have transformed “unrecognisably” in the program’s three years in Dandenong.
For a small number, living under a roof can be a “big step too far”.
“Many have been without a roof for a significant amount of time. It can be scary going into a quiet unit. You’ve got no mates hanging around and you’re left with your own thoughts.”
General manager Dr Andrew Hollows said there remains a shortage of affordable housing in Greater Dandenong.
The pre-Covid housing market was already “pretty tight” for many, particularly rentals for singles.
In Covid, there was a moratorium on evictions but the “underlying problem didn’t change”.
For a “half-decent” rental, a household needs more than one person’s income, Dr Hollows says.
“If you’re on a Centrelink payment or casual employment, it means that the numbers don’t stack up.”
The solution can be found in affordable housing and secure employment, Dr Hollows said.
“It’s great having an assertive outreach team but also a longer-term agenda is there for a way forward to ongoing housing.
“Everyone is getting excited by the social housing ‘Big Build’ program (by the State Government). It’s a massive social housing investment.”
Currently, Launch is constructing family-supportive social housing in Dandenong.
In a partnership with Uniting Care, the building of 60 apartments for women and children escaping family violence will offer wraparound services, support staff and links to schools and agencies.
It is set to open in 2022.
As for ending homelessness, Dr Hollows says it will take a team effort from Launch and other agencies.
“Ultimately it’s a community issue.
“We know what the fundamentals are – engage with people, hang in there, give them good support and a supply of affordable housing so they have good housing options.”
