CEO calls on governments to make homelessness a thing of the past.

Uniting Vic.Tas CEO, Brownyn Pike spoke at a forum on housing policy and solutions in Maroondah, alongside Federal Housing Minister Michael Sukkar and Victorian Legislative Assembly Member for Ringwood Dustin Halse.

Addressing the North Ringwood Uniting Church community, Ms Pike said “an affordable, secure, and safe place to live should never be a luxury, it is the foundation for all people to live healthy and dignified lives as active participants in our community.

“In my years of experience I know, and we all know, that so many often quite expensive and complex interventions we offer to people who are in great need can fall down the minute they exit those programmes because they do not have a place to live.

“That notion of a foundation is really important. Safe and secure housing is a major factor in helping get a person’s life on track and address any issues they may experience.”

Ms Pike recognised the commitment of local congregations in running the Maroondah Shelter Project.

“I commend our local congregations for stepping up and leading the provision of services for people experiencing homelessness in this community. I also commend them for taking this initiative to engage in the public conversation about this important issue.”

Ms Pike spoke about poor income security, rental affordability, social housing stock and wrap-around support as interlinked factors that drive homelessness in our communities.

“Poverty and homelessness are inextricably linked. Households on low income, who live week-to-week, are unable to absorb the financial repercussion that result from disruptive life events such as illness, injury, family violence, relationship breakdown, job loss or a death in the family.

“These can be the real tipping points for people.

“The current Jobseeker rate of $44 a day for a single person is simply not enough for people to live on and it’s certainly not enough for people to find long-term secure and affordable housing.

“Yet, the Federal Government’s Disaster Support Payments, while welcome for many people, leave out those on Jobseeker and Youth Allowance payments because they did not have formal work arrangements to lose the required eight or more hours of paid work to be eligible.”

Talking about rental affordability Ms Pike said that low affordability combined with low housing supply is creating critical situations in communities.

“Across the nation, less than 1% of rental properties were affordable for a single person on any Government income support payment during the rental snapshot in March. The Victorian Rental Report shows that in Maroondah, the proportion of affordable rental lettings in fact decreased.

“There are less houses in your community that people could even think about renting, even if they had additional resources.

On the issue of social housing stock, Ms Pike recognised the Victorian Government’s Big Housing Build project and Federal Government’s recent Safe Places initiative as good steps in the right direction.

“Uniting is excited to partner with both levels of government and have committed $20 million of our own funding to help build 500 new affordable housing projects around Victoria and Tasmania over the next five years.”

At the same time, Ms Pike also noted that the Federal Government spending on building new social housing has declined in the recent years.

“The proportion of funding towards National Housing and Homelessness Agreement has not been indexed for inflation and population growth and so in real terms declined significantly since 2013.”

“Increase in Rental Assistance funding, while necessary, only helps with the existing housing stock and doesn’t provide opportunity to increase supply of affordable housing.”

Alongside the provision of safe and affordable housing, Ms Pike noted the importance of providing integrated and wraparound support necessary for people to maintain their homes.

“When the underlying issues are not addressed, and people cycle back into homelessness.

“Uniting’s housing growth plans will support our wider service provision role in addressing vulnerability in the community. With our multiple service streams, we can provide wrap around support to those who need it.”

In concluding, Ms Pike urged Federal, State and Territory governments to “work together to do as much as they possibly can to make homelessness a thing of the past and not the reality of contemporary life in Maroondah, or anywhere else in a wealthy country like Australia.”

Find out more about Uniting housing and homelessness services.

PHOTO: Bronwyn Pike at the opening of Marrageil Baggarrook.

Graeme’s story

Graeme is a Uniting Vic.Tas consumer involved in the Victorian Government’s Homelessness to a Home program.

I moved into a house in Avoca, Victoria after being homeless for over 13 months.

I lived here a long time ago when my children were young. I am one of the few lucky ones to have found a home under the Homelessness to a Home program.

It all started for me in late March 2020 when I was asked to leave the private rental property in Hamilton I was living in at the time.

I was staying with a friend of mine and her property manager didn’t approve of me staying there.

This was really tough because it was in late February and March which was when COVID-19 first hit, and my options were limited.

I was only going to stay there for a short time, and I had stored my belongings and my furniture in her garage.

We tried to reason with the property manager and assured him that I was doing everything I could to find a rental property, but I wasn’t getting anywhere.

His response was that I need to leave, or else he would evict both me and my friend.

I obviously couldn’t take the risk of my friend getting evicted because of me, especially when she had gone out of her way to help me.

By this point she became scared and anxious at the thought that she might get kicked out.

I gathered my things and left the house because I didn’t want to get her in any further trouble. I was homeless for the next 13 months.

I initially lived in my car.

I kept everything with me and moved around to avoid loitering.

It was tough and I felt overwhelmed.

I tried to get support in the Hamilton area.

I rang up Lifeline for support.

I also rang a lot of the homeless services.

I kept going around in circles, being given multiple numbers to call and getting referred back to the same services again.

There are limited services in Hamilton and while they try to support people living rough, rentals are hard to come by and there just aren’t enough shelters in the region.

When the limited accommodation that such services can offer runs out, homeless people are often back to living on the streets.

At times, I was living in motel rooms in Hamilton.

I moved over to Warrnambool when I found a cheaper motel.

But the price went up while I was living there and I had to pay $590 a week on my Centrelink Disability Pension Payment.

It wasn’t easy living in these motel rooms. It was a life of constantly being adrift.

How are you supposed to get through it? What are you supposed to do?

I was applying for private rentals through estate agents and landlords throughout this time, but I wasn’t getting anywhere.

Applying to rentals and accessing services is much harder when you don’t have a stable living location or access to internet.

After a few months I got to the point where I basically gave up.

How are you supposed to get through it? What are you supposed to do? Who are you supposed to talk to?

I never thought I would ever be homeless, but once I was, I despaired that I would never find a home again.

The Homelessness to a Home program was introduced to me by a Salvation Army Connect housing worker.

I remember a phone conversation saying to her ‘look, I don’t think I’ll get a place ever.

I’ve tried that many rental agents.

I’ve replied to that many. I’ve viewed that many properties.

What I didn’t know at the time was that the Salvation Army Connect contacted Uniting Vic.Tas on my behalf.

I remember sitting with the Salvation Army housing worker in the car and saying ‘Well, I don’t think you can get me a house, can you?’. And less than a week later, Uniting found me a home.

Imagine my delight when he presented me with an 18 month-lease.

I didn’t have a phone at the time, so most of the communication was on email until we met.

Imagine my delight when he presented me with an 18 month-lease.

It was a targeted and tailored  package that would give me support for that period.

I knew then that they had been doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

To be honest I was stunned and amazed because I had pretty much given up on the chance of finding a home by that point.

I mean, there are other people out there in dire situations, domestic violence cases for instance and that’s not my situation.

So, it’s fair to say that I am impressed with the marvellous job that they had done.

I moved into a house in Avoca in May and am signed up till at least October 2022.

For the first time in thirteen months, I feel safe. I’ve got security and a roof over my head.

I have peace of mind knowing that I’m not going to have to go back to sleeping in my car for a while.

This is not just my story and there are many others who go through the same thing day in, day out.

I’m just one of the lucky ones to have a place where I can shelter for the time being.

I’m so thankful to all support workers who’ve helped me over the time.

They really do deserve a medal for everything they’ve done for me. I never expected half of this.

The questions I ask is why it is so hard to get a private rental?

But the questions I ask is why it is so hard to get a private rental?

Why are landlords and estate agents so difficult to deal with these days? Why are support services struggling to home people all over the country?

I’m telling my story so that people know what it’s  like and why the system needs to be fixed.

Nobody should have to go through what I have.

If you’re out on the streets you’ve got nothing.

The thought of having to go out on the streets and be homeless again scares me.

It’s one that I never want to go back to.

Kylie’s story

The absence of a safe and secure home can have a devastating impact on families. Kylie knows this all too well.

Kylie had been living in a private rental property with her partner, son and daughter-in-law until early 2018.

When her partner was sent to jail, Kylie was no longer able to afford the rent and the family were  evicted from the place they had called home for many years.

With no-where to go, the family spent the next 3-and-a-half months living in their car.

“I felt sick to the stomach when we had no-where to go as I’d never been in that situation before,” says Kylie.

“I got really depressed and kept putting myself down.

“I told my son and daughter-in-law that I was no good for them because I couldn’t support them.

“It’s the lowest I’d ever felt, and I didn’t want to be here.”

After months of struggling, the family were put in touch with Uniting.

They were provided with emergency accommodation in a motel in Ballarat, before moving into a friend’s house while they waited for transitional housing to become available.

When that placement broke down, the family spent the next 2 weeks living in their car again.

“It seemed like we were stuck in this awful cycle,” says Kylie.

“But thankfully we reached out to Uniting again and they put us in a motel for a couple of days and then found us transitional housing in Daylesford.”

That was 2 years ago, the family have been living in the Uniting Housing property while they wait for a public housing property to become available.

During that time, Kylie’s son and daughter-in-law welcomed a baby boy into the family.

“I’m so grateful to Uniting for putting a roof over our heads before my grandson was born,” says Kylie.

“My mental health is much better and we’re all doing really well now.

“Any time I need to talk, the team from Uniting have been there.

“The future is looking much brighter for us now.”

Mike’s story

Mike* has a history of homelessness and ongoing mental health issues.

He has been homeless on and off for many years and has moved between boarding houses, motels and staying with family members.

During the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Mike’s long-term partner died of an accidental drug overdose.

His alcohol consumption increased and after a short stay with family, there was a domestic dispute that resulted in Mike leaving the home.

At this point, all family contact and support ended and Mike moved to another house.

The lack of family support and stable accommodation meant that Mike’s mental health declined, and he started drinking more.

Although unstable accommodation was at the core of his issues, Mike had few options.

He lived in temporary and crisis accommodation for many months, making it difficult to seek support for his alcohol and mental health challenges.

Mike’s first suicide attempt came shortly after his arrival at a rooming house.

He spoke about the mental strain that his insecure housing was causing and his inability to cope in a shared living environment.

Our team linked Mike with mental health support and managed to get him into a crisis house where he could live independently.

At this point we realised his suitability for the From Homelessness to a Home program.

He moved to his new apartment in June 2021.

Mike often expresses how thankful he is for this opportunity.

Having stable accommodation has given him the confidence to join local mental health support groups, access alcohol and other drug services and he is looking to start a music group with friends.

He is now working towards rebuilding his relationship with his family.

*This is a true story about a real person. Some details such as names have been changed to respect the wishes of the person featured. The photo accompanying this story is for illustrative purposes only. It is not a photo of the person featured in this story.