Albury-Wodonga is risking the future of its younger generations if it fails to come together to tackle homelessness.
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That is the plea from a key player in efforts to create a way forward for a problem that agencies say is certainly not getting any better.
Junction Support Services chief executive Corienne Krich said it was clear that affordable and available housing was the biggest issue contributing to homelessness.
That has been the trend for several years, though Junction – which provides more than 20 programs assisting disadvantaged people in the North East – has also detected a recent increase in young mothers becoming homeless.
“Rent is expensive and there is not enough housing in Wodonga,” Ms Krich said.
“We also have an increasing population.
“Are we preparing for the future needs of young people?”
But Ms Krich said this was not down to individual agencies such as Junction, which in itself supported about 1600 people in 2016.
Rather, she urged an all-in effort by the whole region, as did others in the sector from both sides of the Murray River.
“We need a united approach to tackle homelessness because it is too big an issue for one agency or one government,” she said.
“It needs to be a whole-of-community approach, including business.”
This position was shared by Albury-based agency yes unlimited, which runs a range of services and programs tackling everything from crisis accommodation, specialist homelessness services and youth engagement programs to school-based programs.
It points out how there are higher numbers of people reporting as homeless in Albury-Wodonga compared with national averages.
Client services manager Jon Park, who is also chair of the Border’s Triple H Forum (Housing, Homelessness and Human Services) said it did not discriminate and it affected the whole community, “with many people only being one or two pay cheques away from homelessness”.
“We know what works. And we need governments and the whole community to work together in building a future without homelessness,” he said.