HOMELESS
PERSONS
THE
TERRACE | STREET CHURCH AND BREAKFAST
Homelessness
 On
the 1996 Census night there were over 105,000 people who were
homeless including people who stayed in refuges, boarding houses,
SAAP funded accommodation, improvised dwellings, who slept out and
who stayed with relatives and friends (ABS 1999). It is estimated
that there are between 70 and 200 people sleeping on Central Sydney
streets on any given night (Sydney City Council 2000). Homelessness
is difficult to accurately measure as it is often a hidden condition
where people stay with friends or live in squats as they have no
permanent home.
A
"homeless person"is someone who is without a conventional
home and lacks the economic and social supports that a home normally
affords. She/he is often cut off from the support of relatives and
friends, she/he has few independent resources and often has no immediate
means and, in some cases, little prospect of self-support (Council
For Homeless Persons Australia 1999).
Homelessness
occurs often as the result of factors such as violence, unemployment
(particularly long-term), shifts in the housing market, health problems
(including mental illness), drug and alcohol abuse, disability,
family breakdown, and loss of social support networks (Council For
Homeless Persons Australia 1999).† Homelessness may represent a single acute episode
in a person's life, or a condition into which individuals enter
and exit repeatedly over the course of their lives. People may become
homeless from time to time as their income, mental and physical
health or ability to maintain social networks vary.†
Single adults are particularly vulnerable to homelessness,
particularly when they have few networks; such as those coming out
of prison.
Homelessness
is not just a lack of shelter. Homelessness is also a lack of
a safe and nurturing home environment; a place where people feel
comfortable and settled; and a place that is private and where they
feel they belong.
HOPESTREET responds to the needs of
Homeless People through Street
Church and Breakfast, a free breakfast where we meet people
on their own territory and The
Terrace, a home for the homeless.
What
they say about HopeStreet:
*
"Mateship"
*
"This place has help me get there..."
*"As
a friend"
*"Taking
on the issues"
*"Family
Orientated"
"I
wouldn't be where I am without you guys"
KS & GH- Previously rough sleepers
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