After a long six months waiting for production and then shipping delays, 750 Shelterbags finally arrived in Fremantle on Friday and were delivered to a Busselton storage shed on Monday.
Rotary Club of Busselton-Geographe Bay community director Ross Johnston is the man who brought the project to life.
He said on a wet, windy day, it was terrible to imagine what it must be like to be sleeping rough.
He said shelterbags are swag-type portable beds that are made in South Africa.
"They are well-suited to our climate being lightweight - under 3kg - and waterproof.
"Shelterbags will provide warmth and comfort for people living outdoors who have no protection from the elements."
Nine percent of the State's homeless population (788 people) live in the South West, according to a federal government report released last year.
A group known as Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) partnered with the ARK City of Refuge, a South African organisation that provides training, accommodation and support for homeless people. The organisations trained seamstresses to make the bags, which are now available for distribution in Australia through Rotary Clubs.
Distribution of free Shelterbags will begin immediately.
While Rotary will continue to store, supply and individually ID the Shelterbags, a committee of local welfare agencies have undertaken to draw on the stock as needed for handing directly to people who are sleeping rough.
"It is a wonderful feeling to know that the local community was 100% behind us in this project.
"But to see the Shelterbags finally going out to those who need them in the midst of such terrible weather conditions, brings the urgency of the situation sharply into focus."
...to see the Shelterbags finally going out to those who need them in the midst of such terrible weather conditions, brings the urgency of the situation sharply into focus.
- Ross Johnston