Blacktown’s homeless to be offered free care packs, food, clothing and more at Homelesness Hub

HOMELESS people will be given a helping hand at a council-run Homelessness Hub event on Friday.

Homeless person sitting on the footpath in Campbell Street, Blacktown, trying to keep warm in the cold weather.

HOMELESS people will be given a helping hand at a council-run Homelessness Hub event in Blacktown on Friday.

People experiencing homelessness will be given food parcels, personal care packs, clothing, health information, housing assistance and more.

There will also be a free morning tea and lunch.

It will be held at Sargents Centre, 9-13 First Ave, Blacktown, from 10am — 1pm this Friday.

Homelessness Hubs are a partnership of organisations aiming to connect people experiencing chronic homelessness in the Blacktown area with the support they need.

Agencies include the Blacktown Council, Centrelink, Housing NSW and Anglicare community services.

Anglicare’s Janine Wall said the organisation would be participating in the Blacktown Homelessness Hub for the first time this year.

She said Anglicare wanted to get involved in the Blacktown event because many of their clients were from the area.

“We see a lot of people coming in to our office who are homeless, sleeping rough or couch surfing,” she said.

“We really wanted to engage with the community and find out about other organisations that help the homeless.

“We provide swags, food and clothing but we can’t offer accommodation, so we’d like to provide clients with information about where they can find organisations that can help them with that.”

Ms Wall said she had attended the Parramatta Homelessness Hub event for the past four years and she was looking forward to taking part in the Blacktown event.

“It’s eye opening and it’s really great to engage with the community because they’re so willing to have a chat and share their experiences,” she said.

“It’s good to be able to provide a service and let them know about the other services we offer.”