catholicweekly.com.au 2 NEWS 7, August, 2022 ACCORDING TO Graham West, CEO of the End Street Sleeping Collaboration, no- body needs to be sleeping rough in Sydney. An increase in social hous- ing, rapid interventions at the right time, and “wrap-around” services can keep people off the streets – or get them into housing quickly. “I think with the right inter- ventions, we have enough re- sources as a country to make sure nobody’s sleeping on the streets,” he told The Catholic Weekly to mark Homelessness Week. The End Street Sleeping Collaboration brings together the NSW Government, City of Sydney and other major part- ners, including CatholicCare and the St Vincent de Paul Society, and is supported by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. It successfully hit the mile- stone of a 25 per cent reduc- tion in street sleeping in Syd- ney by 2020, and is aiming for 50 per cent by 2025. One important tool now used in Sydney is a “by name list”, where the individual his- tories of rough sleepers are recorded and tracked, help- ing services co-ordinate and making sure people don’t get forgotten. “Being on the streets is quite damaging for anyone. It’s bad for your mental health, bad for your physical health, it’s very isolating,” Mr West said. “For people who have been on the streets a long period of time, you can’t just provide a house and expect it to be fixed. You’ve got to provide the wrap-around services that person needs ... For some peo- ple that will be short interven- tions. For other people it will ¾ Adam Wesselinoff We can end homelessness? be lifelong support of some kind. “Unless we provide those support services and fund them properly at the same we provide housing, we run the risk of those people returning to homelessness.” “Wrap-around” supports might include medical or mental health services, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, as- sistance with debts, employ- ment assistance, and outreach from the local community. Mr West said that the COV- ID-19 pandemic showed what was possible when the bar- riers for people to access ac- commodation were lowered. Street sleepers were giv- en emergency housing and, combined with an increase in welfare payments, saw many people’s situations improve. “Suddenly people who had been excluded from accom- modation because of rules or because of previous debts weren’t. That allowed them to Sleeping on Sydney’s streets doesn’t need to happen, says Graham West of the End Street Sleeping Collaboration. PHOTO: END STREET SLEEPING COLLABORATION stabilise in some cases, and to get off the streets,” he said. Most important is an in- crease in the amount of so- cial housing stock, because a “housing first” approach that intervenes rapidly when a person becomes homeless – within the first day or two – cannot work without available accommodation. Recent research from the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW found that the NSW social housing list of over 51,000 ap- plicants resulted in wait times of up to 10 years for social housing. Priority needs – includ- ing for people experiencing homelessness – can result in waits of between 2-5 years. But by building 5,000 social housing dwellings a year for 10 years, the wait list could be cut by three quarters, to fewer than 14,000 applicants. Chris Hartley, research fel- low at the University of New South Wales’ Centre for So- cial Impact (CSI) and one of the co-authors of the Vinnies research, said that without an increase in social housing, the most vulnerable people would continue to “cycle out of dif- ferent stages of homelessness”. “Could be in boarding houses, might be in crisis ac- commodation, or rough sleep- ing. InNSW50 per cent of peo- ple who went to a homeless service looking for accommo- dation assistance were turned away,” he said. “Homelessness becomes more and more entrenched because there’s not social housing to place people into.” CSI’s research identifies five key actions to end home- lessness: a national homeless- ness strategy; an increase in social and affordable housing; “housing first” policies linked to support for long-term homeless; targeted interven- tions to “turn off the tap of en- try”; and supportive systems and programs. I n this edition News Movies, books Archbishop’s homily Editorial & Letters 1-11 8-9 29 32-33 EDITOR Peter Rosengren (02) 9390 5400 REPORTERS Marilyn Rodrigues (02) 9390 5410 Debbie Cramsie (02) 9390 5396 Adam Wesselinoff (02) 9390 5400 ADVERTISING AND MARKETING Steve Richards (02) 9390 5404 Katie Clarke (02) 9390 5402 DESIGNERS Renate Cassis Mathew De Sousa SUBSCRIPTIONS Rita Ng (02) 9390 5411 Our story begins in 1839 with the Australasian Chronicle, continuing with the Freeman’s Journal in 1850. Level 13, Polding Centre, 133 Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone (02) 9390 5400 | Vol 73, No 5246 The Catholic Weekly is published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney ABN 60 471 267 587 and is printed by Spotpress Pty Ltd, 24-26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204. I ampersuaded that the idea of the greater number of the chosen imposes itself and will impose itself more and more on the Christian conscience ... On the one hand, there is God who “wills that all men be saved” and who sends His Son to redeem them by the death of the Cross. On the other hand, there is man who through the nihilations of which he is the first cause evades the love of God. Who can be persuaded that man through his evasions is stronger than God through His love?” - Jacques Maritain, Notebooks QUOTABLE CatholicWeekly The DOWNLOAD THE OUR FAITH OUR WORKS APP Your one-stop location for Mass and Confession times, spiritual reflections and meditations, podcasts, local Catholic news, the Go Make Disciples mission plan, and much more. To download the app visit ourfaithourworks.org/app or scan the QR Code. 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