CLIFF’S Kitchen at St Mary’s Family Centre serve lunch to people and families in Busselton who are dealing with poverty, and volunteers said there had been an increase in people accessing their services.
St Mary’s Anglican Church warden John Morris said poverty and homelessness were ongoing issues in Busselton which had worsened since the mining downturn.
Mr Morris said more people were coming to Busselton when they were doing it tough and service providers and churches in town were prepared to help.
“It is a growing problem for our city,” he said.
Although the range of people dealing with poverty and homelessness were varied, Mr Morris said widowers and people who left violent relationships often needed help the most.
“It is right through the whole age groups, quite often we find men and women who are on their own with young families to look after and nowhere to live,” he said.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, over 260 people were assisted by specialist homelessness services in Busselton throughout 2016, of those 92 were younger than 18 years of age.
A Department of Child Protection spokesperson said they provided services to assist people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
This included crisis and transitional accommodation, housing support services, assistance for people exiting mental health and drug and alcohol facilities, family and domestic violence refuges, meals and day centres.
The spokesperson said reasons why youth became homeless included family and domestic violence, teen conflict, it was not safe to live at home, alcohol or drug issues, mental health issues, trauma, overcrowding, poverty or challenging behaviours.
“Issues experienced by parents may contribute to children experiencing homelessness also,” they said.
“Family and domestic violence, overcrowding, parents drug and alcohol abuse, basic care and protection needs were not met, financial stress or unemployment, mental health, trauma, overcrowding, poverty or challenging behaviours.”
In the Busselton region, there were almost 400 applications for public housing, eight which were considered a priority, according to the Department of Housing general manager service delivery Greg Cash.
Mr Cash said in Busselton there were 586 public housing properties and a further 90 properties which were managed by community housing organisations.
He said WA’s most vulnerable families and seniors would benefit from the State Affordable Housing Strategy which would provide an additional 1000 social homes by the end of June and a total of 1350 homes over the next two years.
“These additional homes would contribute significantly in halving the priority wait list for seniors and families with children,” he said.
Last week, the City of Busselton provided food for Cliff’s Kitchen as part of Anti-Poverty Week with the mayor and councillors serving meals as a way of creating awareness about what was happening in the community.
Mayor Grant Henley said while incidences of homelessness in the region were not as widespread as metropolitan and larger regional areas, it was still concerning.
Mr Henley said economic hardship was not restricted to any one age group and there were many young people who routinely couch hopped with no permanent address.
“This makes it very difficult for them to finish their education, hold down a job and establish strong and supportive relationships,” he said.
Mr Henley said Cliff’s Kitchen had been operating for nearly 20 years and did a great job providing meals to people in need and brought people together in a friendly and social environment.