SERVICES provided for homeless people in the Ararat region have come into question, with one man living outdoors since the start of the year with virtually no contact from social workers.<\/p>\n
The Advocate spoke this week with David Moore \u2013 a man who found himself without a home after a friend he was living with went into care with dementia.<\/p>\n
Mr Moore has spent the past four months camping out on the veranda of the McDonald Centre in High Street, sometimes in freezing conditions. Before that, he lived for a time at the old Prestige Fabrics site.<\/p>\n
During his interview with the Advocate, Mr Moore at times became emotional and admits he has made a lot of bad decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been on ice, I smoke pot and I drink, but I\u2019m not on ice anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was 13 months in Ararat looking after my friend but because she was in a housing commission (house) and when she went into a nursing home, I wasn\u2019t a legal tenant, I wasn\u2019t on the lease and they threw me out. I asked for another week but they wouldn\u2019t do it, and the house is still empty\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Moore said different agencies have tried to help him, but others not so.<\/p>\n
At one point, Wimmera Uniting Care encouraged him to go to Mildura, but with no certainty of accommodation or support, he decided not to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to go, even if they could provide me with one week accommodation, they would pay the (bus) ticket and dump me there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey talk a lot on the phone but nothing ever happens,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to stay in town because my friend is in the nursing home but at the moment (with lockdown)\u00a0 I can\u2019t even see her because I\u2019m not family,\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Moore said organisations like Grampians Community Health, the Ararat Uniting Church and the owners of the Thai and Indian restaurants have tried to help him out, but others don\u2019t understand what it\u2019s like to be homeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne guy gave me a box of two minute noodles, but I don\u2019t have hot water. I got soup and I didn\u2019t know how to cook it on the barbeque so I returned it and they told me I was ungrateful,\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, Wimmera Uniting Care arranged for a room at the Golden Gate Lodge for Mr Moore, but he\u2019s uncertain how long it will last.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere am I going to go from here? There\u2019s nothing,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI get put down and all this sh.t because I\u2019m homeless. I\u2019m just about f\u2026ed, I\u2019ve had enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His case isn\u2019t isolated.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Ararat Advocate ran a story on a mother and daughter living in a tent at Greenhill Lake in the freezing winter.<\/p>\n
Uniting Care is paid hundreds of millions of dollars a year to provide a range of services, including case workers for the homeless.<\/p>\n
But with Uniting Care case workers based in either Horsham or Ballarat, Mr Moore\u2019s case appears to have slipped through the tracks.<\/p>\n
Ararat Rural City CEO, Tim Harrison, said the services provided in Ararat do not meet the level of care required.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndividual cases like this one are always sad and impact us all in various ways. I wish that there was no need to provide homelessness services, but there is,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also need to provide a range of other services to vulnerable people in need. The challenge we face in Ararat Rural City is that professional social support services are generally provided from Ballarat or Horsham. These services are on the whole provided on a \u2018drive in \u2013 drive out basis\u2019 to Ararat and this does not provide the level of care required,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis also applies additional pressure around resources, time and energy to local volunteer services in Ararat \u2013 for services that agencies are funded to provide. Council will be increasing its advocacy efforts with Government to improve locally based service delivery,\u201d Dr Harrison said.<\/p>\n
Wimmera Uniting Care were contacted for comment but did not reach us by our print deadline. Their response will be included in a follow-up article next week.<\/p>\n
I know this is a story which will divide opinion.<\/p>\n
David Moore admits he has made some errors. He\u2019s been on ice and freely admits he smokes a bit of pot and drinks.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve all made bad decisions at some point in our life, some more so than others.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t pretend to know all of the ins and outs of David\u2019s life, but I know he is at rock bottom. At one point during our interview, he told me he felt like getting drunk and jumping in front of a truck.<\/p>\n
As a society, we can\u2019t have people \u2013 no matter their sins \u2013 living outdoors in an Ararat winter.<\/p>\n
We need a case worker in town, we need some emergency support accommodation and we need mental health professionals to try and help people like David back to a normal life.<\/p>\n
Uniting Care is paid a king\u2019s ransom to provide services for people like David.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about time they came to town and did their job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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