WITH concerns for the wellbeing of a rapidly growing homeless population in Port Stephens, Di Ball, the executive director of the Raymond Terrace-based Wahroonga Aboriginal Corporation, fronted Port Stephens Council’s 14 February meeting during public access.

In the past several years, Di and the Wahroonga team have connected countless families and individuals experiencing homelessness to key programs and services.

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At last week’s meeting, Di spoke of the growing demand for Wahroonga services, the rising issue of homelessness in Raymond Terrace, and the need for a safe location for people experiencing homelessness to access toilet and shower facilities locally.

“Wahroonga has been providing many services to our homeless,” Di told councillors.

“Coming out of Covid we were doing a pantry, and we had the community coming into the pantry to put food on the table.

“What we have been providing during Covid, and coming out of Covid, is offering meals, wipes etc.

“We provide warm meals, tea and coffee, and try to put in wrap-around services,” Di said.

During the meeting, Cr Leah Anderson asked Di for clarification around the number of homeless people in the Raymond Terrace area.

“Basically, numbers can vary,” Di said.

“We were climbing throughout the past twelve months to the 300 mark.

“It could be climbing in the next six months to well over the 400 mark that are homeless,” she said.

With cold weather on the horizon, Di told councillors now was the time to act to ensure the safety of the local homeless community during winter.

“We have the winter months coming, and if the homeless don’t have a place to go for showers, or a suitable place for accommodation, this is where they start looking at abandoned buildings.”

Di also spoke to the diverse nature of homelessness in Port Stephens.

“When you look at the homeless who come in you have different categories.

“You have women who are escaping domestic violence, relocating from the country and rural areas to the surrounding areas of Port Stephens, Maitland, Cessnock and Kurri,” Di said.

“Because they are all migrating to Newcastle, they are all so stressed to the max.

“They don’t have any temporary accommodation so they are migrating out to the outer areas.

“When you look at homeless as a definition you have couch surfing, you have got ones that are sleeping in their cars, you have what they call the ‘fringe dwellers’ who are living in makeshift tents or huts, you have ones sleeping in the old Woolworths or on a park bench,” she said.

“You will also find there are families who have little ones, and these are the ones who go undetected because they are fearful of the Department of Communities and Justice.”

Di stressed the importance of changing the perception of homelessness in Port Stephens.

“There is fear in the community.

“They are no different to our sons, daughters or relatives, it’s just that they hit hard times.

“When they hit hard times, they come through my door and I am not judgemental.

“I speak to our homeless who are in psychosis, I listen to them and I show them respect.”

Equitable access to key services was also raised, with Di noting the discrepancy between services offered in Port Stephens and larger regional centres like Newcastle.

“When you look at the outer areas we don’t have the resources that Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have got.

“We don’t have the resources on the mental health side of things.

“We don’t have a refuge for our youth, or a refuge for our men.

“Because there is no bulk billing, we have the biggest crisis of where these people go to.

“This is putting major pressure on Maitland, the Mater and John Hunter (Hospitals).”

Throughout the meeting, Di reiterated the importance of people experiencing homelessness in Raymond Terrace having a safe place to shower, and questioned councillors and staff about the viability of opening a number of sites in the area for this purpose; including the old fire station and King Park.

“Most of our clients who come in don’t have access to showers,” she said.

The fire station site is set to be demolished as part of a road widening program, with Council waiting on funding becoming available to complete the job.

According to Council’s Group Manager of Facilities and Services, Greg Kable, the fire station site is not a viable option for use in the meantime as it was purchased through a compulsory acquisition process, with strict rules applying to its usage.

“That was the purpose for the acquisition and those are the conditions under which we own it,” Mr Kable said.

“I think that would prevent us putting anyone in there at all, irrespective of their background or how worthy a cause it would be.

“Essentially all we can do is tear it down and build the road as proposed.”

Di also suggested that King Park in Raymond Terrace may be an appropriate location to allow the homeless community shower access two or three times a week.

Mr Kable said the use of King Park would need to be discussed with the Sports Council.

“There may be some options outside those sporting facilities that may be better suited for the purpose, so that is something we can work on with Di in the future.

“King Park would need to be put past the Sports Council and see how that would impact on the programs they have going on there,” he said.

While no suitable location for allowing shower access was identified during the meeting, councillors and staff pledged to continue working with Di for an outcome.

Diane is also seeking a suitable and central Raymond Terrace location at which to run Wahroonga programs.

“All our programs are expanding,” Diane told councillors.

“Our women’s group has been going for over twelve months now.

“I was looking at places around Raymond Terrace where we can find a good space for our women to do activities indoors and out,” she said.

As her public access time came to a close, Di promised to continue supporting the homeless community across Port Stephens.

“I know one day we will have a good space where our homeless community can come and feel normal and have their showers.

“I know it is not today, but I do know it will be in the future because I will not give up.

“I will just keep knocking on doors.

“Hopefully one day we will get that centre and it is a space for people to access and feel part of the community,” Di said to applause from councillors and the small crowd.

By Doug CONNOR