Wentworth Housing hit streets to rehouse western Sydney’s homeless
A homelessness service in western Sydney is making headway as the region’s growing number of homeless skyrockets, with a recent report showing a housing-first model has long-term success rate.
Penrith
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MARK* firmly believes that without Wentworth Community Housing’s intervention three months ago, he’d still be on the street.
He lost his livelihood after falling through a sliding glass door last year. The fall shattered his leg and hip joint.
The qualified painter decorator found himself unable to pay rent — he was forced to couch surf and sleep at Penrith’s Judges Carpark.
“I can’t even think how long I was there for, maybe about six months,” he said.
Then he met Julia Shoesmith, an assertive outreach officer with Wentworth. He’s now in transitional housing in St Marys.
“Julia came to the carpark and said, ‘I’ll get you a house’. I nearly asked her to smack me so I knew I wasn’t dreaming,” Mark said.
Ms Shoesmith, who works in the Penrith, Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains regions, said financial hardship was the leading cause of homelessness in her area.
Her job is to connect with clients who have often lost faith in services, and put them on a new path.
“For anyone who’s rough sleeping … walking into an office is so unknown,” she said. “It takes a while to build that report.”
She regularly visits Judges Carpark, and is alarmed at its growing numbers: “I’ve seen a lot of new faces, which is horrifying.”
Penrith’s rate of homelessness rose by more than a third — from more than 580 to at least 890 people — from 2011 to 2016, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Wentworth’s specialist homelessness services team works with 800 to 1000 people every year.
It recently announced the results of its Heading Home study, which followed 26 individuals and nine families who were rehomed after meetings in November 2016.
Six months on 24 people and eight families remained in housing, and 92 per cent of people reported improved wellbeing.
Wentworth has a housing-first model, connecting clients with several housing, health, financial and employment services.
*Mark’s name was changed for his privacy.