A SHORTAGE of emergency housing has left a family of four sleeping behind a church, heating party pies on a barbecue for dinner and using a bike locker to store their belongings.
Tracy Thornton (44), her two teenagers and her partner of nine years Rodney Ashman (38) have spent three months trying to secure a rental using a Homeswest bond but keep getting knocked back because both are jobless.
Ms Thornton stopped working as a cleaner to care for her partner when he had surgery for liver cancer in September.
Since his recovery, Mr Ashman has been looking for work, spending his days going through the papers at the Knowledge Centre. He has even considered working as a grave digger.
He said he has positive days, especially on Wednesdays when he volunteers for emergency services cadets, but he feels frustrated watching migrants get priority housing ahead of Australian citizens who have paid taxes for years.
He is seeking a health clearance to get his driver’s licence reinstated but they have no car and continue to try to get crisis accommodation but all has been full.
And they aren’t the only ones – the couple say they have seen several people sleeping in the Centennial Pioneer Park because it is safer than sleeping in the Perth CBD where the soup kitchens are based. The family often sleeps on a mattress left for them out the back of the All Saint’s Anglican Church in Gosnells.
Reverend Chris Hind said several others had also taken refuge at the rear of the church during his eight months serving at the Gosnells parish.
Rev Hind said the shortage of emergency housing needed to be addressed across Perth.
“More needs to be done most definitely. There needs to be more funding and more beds,” he said.
“I think some people turn a blind eye to it. We all live fairly stressed lives and are all busy and focus on our own needs. It is certainly a systemic problem.”
The church runs a program called Emergency Relief to provide food hampers and vouchers to those in need, using money raised by the church and external funding sources and donations. To donate, contact the parish office on 9490 1971.