Base Services launch Homeless for a Week campaign to raise funds for the Basement Soup Kitchen

With the cost of living crisis bringing the threat of homelessness into stark focus, Toowoomba’s Base Services is calling on the community to help them support those sleeping rough.

The cost of living crisis has seen community sentiment toward the homeless drastically shift, as more people contend with the prospect of losing the roof over their own head.

Now in its ninth year, Nat Spary’s Homeless for a Week campaign commenced on Monday evening, bringing together selfless Toowoomba locals to raise awareness for the growing homelessness problem.

Spending a night sleeping rough, volunteers gain an appreciation for the plight faced by an increasing number of Toowoomba families.

Nat Spary at the launch of the 2022 Homeless for a week campaign. Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“We had 101 people registered from all different walks of life, from kids to mums, dads, business people and other community leaders,” Mr Spary said.

“When people sleep rough, they don’t think straight and make good decisions, it goes from bad to worse.”

Mr Spary will spend the remainder of the week on Toowoomba’s streets as he has done for nearly a decade as the co-ordinator of the Base Services, a not for profit organisation.

Donations are at their lowest level since the idea’s inception in a sign that more and more people are feeling the pinch of the cost of living and housing crises.

Despite currently sitting at less than half of the $150,000 fundraising goal, Mr Spary is buoyed by the significant shift in public perceptions of the homeless that his efforts have inspired throughout Toowoomba.

“Nine years ago when I started the ‘Homeless for a Week’ sleep out, people still came up to me and said ‘there’s no such thing as homelessness in Toowoomba’, but that stigma’s changed,” he said.

“With the housing crisis in Australia people have become more aware of the issue and that’s changed the stigma hugely.

“Homelessness can happen to anyone and people don’t only see the person sleeping rough on the street no more, it’s now couch surfing and people living back home with their parents.”

Nat Spary stirs the pot because Base Services needs to raise $115,000 in three weeks to keep up with costs. Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Increased compassion and understanding from the community goes a long way, but it still doesn’t change the harsh reality on the ground for so many.

Only sleeping for an hour and a half on Monday night in torrid, wet conditions, Mr Spary said the physical challenges of homelessness exacerbate the mental strain already felt by those afflicted.

“It was wet last night even and when it’s wet, even if you’ve got a swag, your blankets get wet, dirty, and mouldy which takes a toll mentally,” he said.

“You don’t have access to a kitchen where you can eat nutritious meals or those facilities in a home we take for granted like a washing machine.”

The struggle of post-pandemic living, along with domestic violence, lack of employment and

addiction has left many families susceptible to homelessness.

Analysis from Homelessness Australia, released last week, found that Queensland recorded a 12.9 per cent rise in the use of homelessness services, comfortably in front of all other states.

The plea for support has been reflected at Toowoomba’s Base Services, with more vulnerable people than ever before creating a debilitating financial strain on the group.

“We are getting new faces everyday at the soup kitchen, we come across mums that have got kids who are sleeping rough in the car and a lot more families than 20 years ago when I first started,” Mr Spary said.

“We were hoping for $150,000 because the cost of the basement soup kitchen’s gone up hugely along with food and electricity.

“People are still generous and every cent counts, but we haven’t reached our target and this is the first time we haven’t raised what we were hoping for.”

Donate at www.homelessforaweek.com.au

Originally published as Base Services launch Homeless for a Week campaign to raise funds for the Basement Soup Kitchen