Last year, I read a news story about the impact of homelessness and drug addiction on Footscray’s CBD that inspired me for all the wrong reasons.
It gave the account of many locals: business owners, police, students, pedestrians – all valid perspectives from people genuinely concerned about the safety of their neighbourhood.
But not a single homelessness program or drug addiction service was quoted, let alone a homeless person.
Anyone who has lived in Footscray for a serious amount of time knows there is a hive of support on offer for people doing it tough.
I reached out to several of them while pursuing a story for The Westsider and was astounded by the variety and warmth of their responses.
Over 170 volunteers – ‘Vannies’ – served nearly 90,000 meals last financial year from St Vincent de Paul’s two soup vans.
Their Western Soup Van has been going strong for 35 years.
They witnessed increased homelessness in Footscray’s CBD and added a Sunday service to help rough sleepers.
“People can come as often or as little as they need, with no questions asked”, a St Vincent’s Victoria spokesperson said.
McAuley Community Services for Women said to see rates of homelessness are rising “You only need to walk around Footscray”.
“We are experiencing an increase in women either presenting at our door or phoning our receptions seeking a direct response.”
McAuley House Footscray (MHF) offers 24/7 crisis accommodation and support services for women and referrals to health and mental health, family violence, disability, and financial stress services.
Melbourne City Mission on Barkly Street said its teams were seeing young people disproportionately impacted by homelessness.
They offer family crisis support, and work with schools to offer early outreach programs to help people at risk of homelessness.
“In the inner west, we are seeing a profound lack of crisis accommodation and … housing options which has meant young people are being trapped in homelessness for on average three years or more,” MCM CEO Vicki Sutton said.
Western Health Drug Health Services unit runs 15 programs across the inner west and helps up to 5,000 people a year.
The Service’s head Dr John Cook said it is also working to ease community stigmatisation faced by people battling addiction.
“We need a change in conversation so people facing addiction are not embarrassed and can seek help,” he said.
Maribyrnong City Council touted the state government’s recent expansion of its Cohealth service into Footscray.
“[Cohealth] offers mobile, multidisciplinary health services seven days a week, addressing the health and social support needs of people experiencing addiction,” then MCC Mayor, Councillor Cuc Lam said.
“This is something Council has been advocating for, to ensure our community has the support they need within the municipality.”
This is just a sample of the services and people working across Footscray and the inner west to tackle homelessness and addiction.
Speaking to The Westsider, all services mentioned a strong uptick in people needing their help in the post-COVID era.
“We would all need to be blind to not notice the return of growing numbers of people sleeping rough in our community,” a spokesperson for McAuley said.
A recent public survey by the City of Melbourne saw every suburb name homelessness services and community safety as a major concern amongst locals.
Cr Lam said Maribyrnong City has received $4.6 million from the state government to boost access to services and is currently working on a Food Insecurity Professional Network to support local programs like St Vincent de Paul’s soup vans.
“Council understands the impact homelessness and addiction can have on the broader community, including small businesses and social carers,” Cr Lam said.
Outgoing federal Maribyrnong MP Bill Shorten and state MP for Footscray Katie Hall didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Each service had a ready response when asked what needed to change for them to have a bigger impact.
St Vincent’s, MCM, McAuley and Western Health all said expansion of services across the inner west was necessary, and more funding would be welcome.
There were also a few simple ways locals can help.
“More than 9 out of 10 people calling our assistance welfare line are asking for food as part of their support”, St Vincent de Paul’s spokesperson said.
“We welcome local support … through donations of food and pantry items.”
St Vincent’s Spring Appeal also kicked off in September.
MCM’s Vicki Sutton said “Each person deserves to be recognised, be graceful, a kind word, a smile.”
More information about homelessness and addiction services are available through Maribyrnong City Council’s website.
