Brisbane weather: Fears for homeless as temperatures plummet

Date
    July 13, 2015


There are concerns for Brisbane's homeless as the city's coldest week of the year coincides with a spike in rough sleepers.   

Homeless organisations are preparing extra blankets, swags and support for the city's destitute as they get ready for temperatures to drop as low as six degrees.

Micah Project helps out homeless people throughout Brisbane through programs such as Street To Home and the Brisbane Homelessness Service Centre.
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CEO Karyn Walsh said the number of rough sleepers the organisation was helping in the Brisbane CBD alone had risen to 33 in recent months, up from a recent low of just 10.


She said the organisation was dealing with about 90 rough sleepers throughout the inner city and estimated there were 100 to 150 people sleeping on the streets within a few kilometres of the CBD at any one time.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics more than 2000 people slept rough in the greater Brisbane area in 2011.


Homeless support organisations are preparing to help keep rough sleepers warm this week.

"The biggest issue is the wind and if it rains, cold and wet is worse for people's health," Ms Walsh said.

"Generally whatever the weather is, it's not always that comfortable sleeping on the street, the cold just makes it more stressful for some people because of their health conditions.

"A lot of people who have been homeless for long periods of time are unwell so obviously cold weather often exacerbates their health conditions."   

South-east Queensland's coldest morning is tipped to be Wednesday, with a low of just four degrees forecast for Brisbane.

The bureau is still tipping a low of six degrees on Tuesday.

As the mercury plummets, Brisbane-based not-for-profit Swags for Homeless is preparing for an increase in demand from the many services it supports.

"For the start of the week it's going to be a horror situation," CEO Tony Clark said.

"And we really want to make it clear it's when the public are not prepared, when the homeless are not ready.

"Maybe the police have taken away their blanket, maybe they've lost their blanket and they're unprepared, it's those cold snaps that kill."

Both providers called for more to be done to encourage affordable housing in Brisbane to ease some of the pressure on people at risk of homelessness.

"Overall we'd just like to see the increase of affordable housing so that we can get people off the streets quicker, regardless of the weather," Ms Walsh said.

"I mean there's a lot of housing going up in Brisbane for people who can afford to pay higher rents but there's very little going in for people on low incomes."   

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brisbane-weather-fears-for-homeless-as-temperatures-plummet-20150713-gi9the.html#ixzz3fovGhRAh

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have you ever wondered why homelessness is a GLOBAL problem?  Is it really all that credible that every government on the planet doesn't care enough to do something about it or is it also possible that the problem is far more complex than the OP suggests.  Between mental illness and drugs problems, many homeless are so for reasons other than they cant find a home.

And the Labor Party wants to make it COLDER!!!

longweekend58 wrote on Jul 14^th, 2015 at 4:05pm:


Exactly what % of homeless people do you think CHOOSE to be so?

Dsmithy70 wrote on Jul 14^th, 2015 at 4:21pm:

LW will always find a way to put the blame on the victim.
What the governments should do, is built refuges of last resort, like the hostels, I and many other migrants lived in in the 50,s and 60,s, nothing flash, but at least not on the street.
I wonder if LW is one of those landlords, having housing empty.
If one does choses to live on the street, and accommodation is provided by the government, then he/she has no grounds to complain, and LW should not use them as an excuse. 

No need to be afraid, of course.

These people who don't want to rent a room in a lodging house or a boarding house are ALL volunteer al fresco life-stylists.

But damn right the churches and the charities want to spread a 'moral panic' about these Outdoor pioneer types getting a chill - it's all good for business. It increases the amount of sucker donations rolling into their coffers.

... dear o dear o dear ... when will people ever learn?

stunspore wrote on Jul 14^th, 2015 at 1:08pm:


.. and a cheap way to pick up DSP and pay no net tax etc, without getting a real job and putting in a day's work..... 

longweekend58 wrote on Jul 14^th, 2015 at 4:46pm:



Lack of affordable and available accommodation?