POLITICAL inaction is exposing homeless people to a hopeless life of despair, an Albury priest says.
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Anglican Archdeacon of the Hume Peter MacLeod-Miller said yesterday the inaction meant churches were being forced to fill the gap caused by reduced services.
A steady flow of homeless people arriving on his doorstep at St Matthew’s rectory over recent weeks.
The situation had worsened since last month’s decision to close crisis accommodation beds at Quamby House.
“Serious consideration might be given to turning local, state and federal politicians’ offices into emergency accommodation,” Father Mac-Leod-Miller said.
“I’m sure a solution to the current gap in services would be quickly found.”
EDITORIAL: Homeless need our help
On Saturday night a man knocked on the rectory door asking for help.
“He couldn’t contact anybody, no one was interested, and so asked if there was any chance we could help him,” Father MacLeod-Miller said.
The church was able to give him a meal and bed to sleep in for the night, along with toiletries, in a room at the side of the rectory.
Father MacLeod-Miller said it meant the man got to spend the night “as a human being”.
“I know people are looking forward to the snow, but there’s a lot of people who will find the cold a time for real distress,” he said.
“Because these people are very vulnerable and sometimes very damaged, they do fall silently through the cracks.
“They don’t have a political voice and their confidence — because they have been written off — they go down without a whimper.
“That’s a horrible situation.”
Father MacLeod-Miller said the situation was repeated again on Sunday night.
“Another man, again with a mental health issue — and with a shopping trolley and nowhere to sleep — sought sanctuary at St Matthew’s crisis care, so he was fed and bedded down before I raced off to Dederang to take the evening service.”
That man hadn’t wanted to knock on the door, “but he was just so desperate”, the priest said.
“I thought how humiliating it was for him,” he said.
Father MacLeod-Miller said politicians knew there was a serious problem but did nothing.
“There’s been no royal commission into this particular crisis because there’s no glamour in having a mental health issue and being homeless,” he said.
“We are badly serviced by the governments that we pay, and this is the horror of it all.”
The church will hold a garage sale in North Albury on June 29 as a fund-raiser for homeless people.
Anyone who wants to donate furniture or goods can contact St Matthew’s on (02) 6021 3022.
