An Albury St Vincent de Paul Society worker says a community sleepout event will help the "quadrupled" number of homeless people presenting to the charity since COVID-19.
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Tailored support coordinator Shantelle Lidden said about four times as many people were requesting help from Vinnies compared to pre-pandemic.
Ms Lidden said the increase was because people just couldn't get affordable housing.
"They just can't afford private rental," she said.
"Every second person that we talk to is in that situation and they might not think of themselves as homeless, but they are because they don't know where they're sleeping night to night."
She said people across the state were having the same experience.
"There's over 37,000 people in NSW alone who are on the social housing waiting list," she said.
"There's just not enough social housing stock, that's what it comes down to."
Ms Lidden said more housing needed to be built to solve the current homelessness crisis.
"That is the only solution we can come up with," she said.
"There are no other solutions, because our private rental market is not coming down anytime soon and the price of houses is out of reach for so many.
"So we need all levels of government to come together and this is exactly what needs to be done to address this crisis."
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In the meantime, Ms Lidden said the St Vincent de Paul Albury community sleepout event, scheduled for August, would raise awareness and funds.
She hoped the Albury sleepout would raise $15,000, but said it would also change the stigma and image of homelessness.
"Homelessness isn't sometimes what it is perceived to be," she said.
"We might think of homelessness as that man who sleeps on that park bench, but that's not the reality of homelessness, it's the person standing next to you at the supermarket that has nowhere to call home."
The event is planned for Friday August 27 at 6pm in front of the Nagle Centre in the Dempsey place off Olive Street.
Ms Lidden said the location of the sleepout, in the car park of a block of social housing, would give participants and social housing residents an opportunity to mingle and share experiences, which last year's virtual event lacked.
"[The Dempsey Place residents] are really excited about it," she said.
"They're really on board and they really want to do what they can to participate and donate, because they've got a lived experience, they know what homelessness is like.
"It's a great opportunity to have that discussion with someone who has that lived experience.
"I'm hoping it's a really good opportunity for us to come together to talk about ways we can work together, things that we might be able to do differently going forward to really help this national crisis that we're facing."
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She said all of the money raised would be used within Albury's community.
"It will go to our immediate emergency relief, food hampers, clothing, blankets, assistance with accommodation," she said.
"Also we will be using the funds for community activities here at the Nagle Centre to support people getting their birth certificate or their ID, things like that, to really help them move towards education, employment, training and achieving their goals, so all those things to give people the hand up to move on with their lives."
Ms Lidden is hoping sporting clubs and businesses will join the sleepout.
"If the community of Albury gets behind our cause it will make a huge difference to our disadvantaged community members and I appreciate any donation, big or small, it's going to be used for all those essential purposes and make a difference in their lives," she said.
To donate or sign up for the sleep out, people can go to https://my.fundraise.vinniesnsw.org.au/vinnies-community-sleepout-albury-2021.
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