Southern suburbs father’s plea after 10 months on the streets with young sons

A homeless southern suburbs father just wants a stable roof over his young sons’ heads – but says single dads are being left behind in the housing crisis.

A southern suburbs father, who was forced to spend Christmas in his car with his two young sons, says it feels like “no one is listening” to single dads in the housing system.

Philip Butterworth, 38, and his sons Blayke, 11, and Tahydan, 10, have spent the past 10 months living between emergency accommodation, caravan parks and their car – with no end in sight.

The father-of-two said all he wanted was for his boys, who have both been diagnosed with ADHD, to start the school year with proper support and a roof over their heads.

Human Services Minister Nat Cook said the department had provided “ongoing support” to Mr Butterworth, who is currently in emergency housing, and stood “ready to support him and his family”.

Mr Butterworth left his job as a mining operator in Moomba, near the SA-Qld border, to take full-time care of his sons after gaining custody of them around Boxing Day in 2022.

In March 2023, with soaring rental costs, the family “lost everything” and found themselves on the streets.

Philip Butterworth with his sons Blayke, 11, and Tahydan, 10, who have been homeless for nine months. Picture: Supplied

Forced to couch-surf and spend nights in their car, Mr Butterworth sought help from homelessness services – but felt he had been let down by the system.

“It felt like discrimination because we were three bots in the system, we watched roughly about fix or six women receiving housing in the time we were there,” he said.

“We’ve asked for help so many times, but it just feels like we’ve been pushed into the system then kicked back out of the system.”

The family was forced to spend Christmas in their car, after Mr Butterworth said he was told by a support worker that he was “not fulfilling his obligations” to report a minimum number of rental applications per week – houses, he said, that simply didn’t exist.

“I was having to look every day for a $370, two- to three-bedroom house every day, when you type that into search engines there’s absolutely nothing that comes up,” he said.

“We were told to go to a boarding house, but boarding houses don’t take children. I told (support workers) that, so then they told us to go to a caravan park – but caravan parks have a 30-day maximum stay.

“When we were at the caravan park we were told we technically had a roof over our head, so weren’t classed as category one for housing.”

The emotional and physical battle to find housing had taken an immeasurable toll on his boys, Mr Butterworth said.

“I just want the boys to have that foundation and stability, they didn’t do anything wrong to deserve this,” he said.

“When I was by myself, it wasn’t so hard to be in this situation … but when you’ve got two pups that you’ve got to keep warm and keep safe, it’s heartbreaking.

“When you sleep in the car, you’ve got four alarms just to make sure you can wake up, roll over and put the blanket back on them so they don’t get cold.”

Mr Butterworth just wants his sons to start the school year with a roof over their heads. Picture: Supplied

Mr Butterworth’s sister, Danielle, said it had been heartbreaking to see her brother’s housing fight first-hand.

“We have a house but it isn’t big enough to have them here forever … it just feels like nobody’s listening to him,” she said.

“I said to little Tahy (Tahydan): ‘Hey mate, how are you coping?’, and he said: ‘I’m just sad. I don’t have a bedroom, I don’t have toys, I don’t have anything that’s just mine. I miss sleeping in my bed’.”

The Advertiser understands Mr Butterworth has received ongoing support from housing services since March 2023, including access to the government’s Emergency Accommodation Program and an offer of transitional housing which was later turned down.

Mr Butterworth’s sister, Danielle, had recently contacted the human services minister’s office and been provided advice regarding her brother’s ongoing support.

“The safety and security of Mr Butterworth’s children are paramount and our priority is identifying opportunities to secure long-term accommodation as they arise,” Human Services Minister Nat Cook said.

“We are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in social and affordable housing to ensure more families have a safe and stable roof over their heads.

“Our government’s push to increase public housing stock has already led to improved housing and homelessness services, but we know there’s more to be done.

“A strong foundation means South Australian families, like Mr Butterworth’s, will receive the support they need when they are struggling the most.”

Hutt St Centre chief executive Chris Burns said a record 185 people used the service in one day earlier this month, as the cost of living and housing crises tipped “very functional” workers over the edge.

On average, 20 people more per week had sought help from the Hutt St Centre over the past 12 months.

Mr Burns said rental increases were often the tipping point that forced people into homelessness, with latest data showing SA’s rental vacancy rate is just 0.65 per cent – the lowest in the country.

“These are people who have never considered what being homeless involves,” he said.

“So when they come to us, they’re very complex, they’re fearful and they’re in shock.”