Advertising feature
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Nearly half of all people who sought assistance from BeyondHousing to prevent homelessness in Wodonga and Wangaratta last year were single.
BeyondHousing chief executive officer Celia Adams said in addition to demand for services increasing by nearly 20 per cent in Wangaratta and nine per cent in Wodonga over the previous year, more of those people were single.
“With such a significant increase in demand for homelessness services in Wangaratta, it was alarming that 41 per cent of the people we saw needed immediate housing,” Ms Adams said.
“Many of these are single people. They face additional barriers to finding private rental because of rental prices. On one wage, they often can’t afford private rental.
"It’s not well understood that people who are employed are unable to meet rental costs and therefore they end up homeless.
"This doesn’t fit the stereotypical ideas many Australians have of homelessness,” she said.
Ms Adams called for more construction of suitable, affordable accommodation options for single people.
“With so many people in our region needing immediate assistance, more must be done to increase housing stocks,” she said.
This advertising feature is supported by:
BeyondHousing is the region’s largest community housing organisation in the Goulburn and Ovens Murray regions of Victoria.
It provides housing to more than 950 people in the community.
And it owns or manages more than 700 properties, including long-term community housing and transitional housing.
BeyondHousing also supports people in private rental who may be experiencing housing stress or having issues with their tenancy, including needing to appear in VCAT.
It has offices in Wodonga, Wangaratta, Seymour and Shepparton, with more than 50 skilled staff supporting these offices.
Each year BeyondHousing sees more than 5000 people in need of assistance to secure or maintain their housing.
The organisation also provides outreach to Wallan, Broadford, Kilmore, Alexandra, Yea, Myrtleford, Yarrawonga, Cobram and Benalla.