Whitehorse: inside the lives of two rough sleepers

Before he was caught drink-driving, Alex was a “confident, normal person”, working as a mechanical engineer and living with his partner in Blackburn. He’s now spent five years on the streets.

Alex and his dog Doofa live on Whitehorse’s streets. Picture: Hamish Blair

Before he was caught drink driving, Alex was a “confident, normal person”, working as a mechanical engineer and living with his partner in Blackburn.

But that all changed when he lost his licence.

He soon found himself single, without a job, and unable to cover the cost of rent by himself.

So began his life on the streets — a life where everyday is centred around survival.

This week Alex is sleeping in a “cupboard” under a staircase in an industrial building in Nunawading.

Alex carries his three-legged dog Doofa around on the back of his bike.

He was squatting in a vacant house in Mitcham, before another man decided he wanted to move in, and belted Alex with an old stereo, leaving him with broken ribs and looking for a new place to sleep.

“It literally is survival of the fittest nowadays,” Alex said.

“It’s a pretty scary world.”

For five years he’s been sleeping rough, often in alcoves or underground carparks.

He usually feels “like a criminal” sheltering on private property, so tries to stick to industrial areas, particularly in Whitehorse, which he said was safer and has less “druggies” than other areas.

Steve, who sleeps in a tent, also sticks to Whitehorse because he, too, feels there are less drug users roaming the streets at night compared to places like Ferntree Gully and Croydon.

Two months ago he was bashed and mugged near Croydon Skate Park.

The thug left him with two black eyes he could barely open and took his backpack, which contained his phone, portable speaker and his dinner.

Steve was attacked near Croydon Skate Park.

Vermont local Steve has been homeless since January, when the landlord of the unit he was renting decided not to re-lease the property.

He initially stayed with friends, “but that only lasts so long”.

“You just run out of places. And night comes everyday, so you’ve got to sleep eventually,” Steve said.

Both men are behind thousands of others on a list for community housing, and live off the Government’s Newstart allowance, which is about $550 a fortnight.

It’s hard for Steve to find work, because sleeping rough makes it hard to hold down a routine.

His day is spent finding somewhere to shower, to do his laundry, to charge his phone, something to eat and somewhere to sleep.

“Before you know it, the day just goes,” he said.

Alex and Steve tend to shower at Ringwood’s Wesley Mission, where they also can do laundry, or at public swimming centres.

Steve became homeless when the landlord of the unit he was renting decided not to re-lease the property.

When they can find the effort — and the necessary equipment — they use public park barbecues to cook meals.

Alex finds discarded pots and utensils in dumpsters, and uses the barbecues to make fettuccine, chicken pollo, sausages, and even to boil eggs.

“I’ve learned to make spaghetti bolognese on the barbecue,” he said.

He regularly rounds up other homeless people and cooks for them too.

“Generally it’s reciprocated later on,” he said. “We help each other out when we do have money.”

It’s how he and Steve met — Alex was cooking mushroom burgers for other people without dinner and offered one to Steve.

But while they can cook food without a home, it’s difficult being unable to store food living on the streets.

“In winter you can get away without a fridge for a day, in summer you can’t save food at all,” Alex said.

Neither men beg, but they appreciate the generosity when they’re offered food.

Alex cooks his meals on public barbecues in parks around Whitehorse.

Alex said people in 2019 were much kinder than when he first moved onto the streets.

“I don’t like being looked down on, I don’t need to be pushed down anymore,” he said.

Alex finds Whitehorse “a very friendly area”, where one in 10 people who pass by him say hello.

He gets a lot of comments on his three-legged dog Doofa, who he transports around in a trailer on the back of his bike.

Alex knows his love for Doofa is stopping him getting a housing placement, with most not permitting pets, but there’s no way he would give him up.

And the loyalty is mutual — one day someone stole Doofa off the street, and while police and PSOs searched and couldn’t find him, Doofa broke free and returned to Alex himself without his collar, lead or coat.

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Alex also can’t get his licence back without completing a drink driving course — which he can’t afford.

“I advise anyone — don’t drink and drive,” he said.

Homelessness has also placed a significant strain on his mental health.

“It gets to you after a while,” he said. “You end up with mental health issues.”

Alex said one of the hardest things about becoming homeless had been losing a lot of his friends.

The highlight of his week is the Mitcham Community Meal on a Sunday.

Run by the generous Ben Frawley, it allows people like Alex and Steve to not only enjoy a hot meal, but also to socialise and relax for the evening.

“Benny is a star,” Alex said.

“Without this sort of meal, it would just be so much harder,” Steve said.