11/08/2025
80 young people a night are homeless. In our communities. And the face of homelessness is a 55 year old woman.
These are just two of the startling, sad facts related to homelessness in Australia and in particular our region.
Primary Care Connect was honoured to participate in the range of events and activities happening across community last week to raise awareness of the plight of homelessness. Now more than ever, people are vulnerable, and housing security has severely been diminished since the onslaught of covid, the high cost of living, and the housing shortage.
If there was one thing that became very evident last week was that the stigma needs to end, and that any one of us could be faced with a situation of housing insecurity, instability or even homelessness.
The homelessness forum held at LaTrobe University last week included a panel of local experts including Beyond Housing CEO Celia Adams, who said that "solving homelessness is not a complex issue."
"In the 90's 6% of all housing stock was social housing, now that figure is below 4%," Celia said.
The Care Day held at the Salvation Army church last week saw over 90 people attend for things such as free health checks, hair cuts, dental and a delicious roast lunch. We applaud the Salvo's for their tireless work in bringing the event together for the very people we have all been advocating for.
It is timely to remind our community that now has a vending machine located at our office stocking free period sanitary products, and that Food Share is also available for food products. Please check out our featured items for a list of locations to collect food. As reported last week Bunnings has also generously donated more than 40 sleeping bags to Primary Care Connect to provide to our clients and community - people who are sleeping rough or at risk. Please don't hesitate to come and in and collect a bag or call us on 5823 3200.
We live in a great and giving community and last week really demonstrated that. 💜
