Emergency housing crisis

Former Health Minister Nelson Bascome told us nearly two years ago that his ministry was drawing up plans for a new facility, but nothing happened.

Now, with the worsening housing crisis, the Salvation Army has found itself accommodating people on a permanent basis. Whatâs more, 25 per cent of the people who stay there have emotional or physical conditions and should be housed in specialist facilities elsewhere, bosses say.

We spoke to two recovering drug addicts at Focus Counselling Services yesterday, and both of them said they had been trying for weeks to get a bed at the Salvation Armyâs Marsh Lane facility, but they keep getting told thereâs no room, they said.

The men, both in their forties, stay at Focus until it closes at 7pm and then have to find a place to stay. One said he sleeps in a car, the other, a cave. Without some kind of stability the chances of ending up in a crack house are sky high, which worries the men because theyâre both trying to stay clean.

The claims follow comments by defence lawyer Peter Farge who spoke out this week about the lack of space at the facility.

Yesterday, the Salvation Armyâs Divisional Commander, Major Lindsay Rowe, and Major ãChuckä Eyre, the executive director of community services, told us they are doing the best they can with what theyâve got, but what theyâve got is not enough.

Maj. Eyre confirmed that as of Wednesday all 47 beds reserved for men were full and that 10 of the 15 beds for women were taken, although Maj. Rowe said he spoke to the shelter manager on Thursday morning and was told there were a couple of beds available.

Maj. Rowe said he had no idea why the men we spoke to would have been turned away, but there are situations where the shelter is ãnot conduciveä to accommodating certain people, including the handicapped, people with behavioural issues and drug addicts who are going through ãsevere withdrawal.ä

People who do manage to get a place, however, find it hard to move on.

Maj. Eyre said: ãWhat we have now is not an emergency housing facility. Some of the people there are long-term residents.

ãIf thereâs a bed we give it to the people who come, but once the shelterâs full thereâs not much we can do.ä

Maj. Rowe, pointing out the facility is a Government-owned facility on Government land, said a task force had been set up to better screen applicants, but it was disbanded after last yearâs general election so the Salvation Army implemented its own plan.

Maj. Rowe said: ãThe plan included identifying one dormitory to be used for those clients expressing an interest and willingness to commit to addressing the issues precipitating their homelessness and improving their life skills and habits in preparation for a return to community life.ä

He continued: ãThe next component of that plan is to designate a booth to be used as transitional housing for those who have found employment, dealt with their addiction issues and need to be one step away from an emergency housing context and one step closer to independent living.ä

The arrangement leaves the facility with 47 beds for emergency housing.

With no prospect of a new shelter being built, however, the Salvation Army is left trying to make ends meet with a limited amount of resources.

Maj. Rowe said: ãGovernment funding [$420,000 annually] has been frozen for quite some time, but compliance with the new Employment Act in 2002 added an additional $150,000 to our staffing costs.ä

He continued: ãSince this money could not be identified in any other way we were obligated to discontinue food services at the shelter, close the kitchen and terminate staff.ä

Right now thereâs just a single security guard responsible for 47 people spread over three buildings, he said.

One of the addicts we spoke to said: ãIâve just come back into recovery and was told the Salvation Army had nothing available, so Iâm staying in an abandoned car. I could go to a crack house, but then Iâd get caught up in it again. Iâm trying to stay clean but thereâs nowhere to stay. At the end of the day where am I going to rest my head?ä

Maj. Eyre said: ãThe shelter is a Government-owned facility and itâs up to the Government to upgrade that facility ÷ thereâs only so much we can do.ä[[In-content Ad]]