Perth Voice Interactive

“I heard you have accommodation. I don’t have anywhere to live and I need a place for me and my grandson to stay—I’m praying for a miracle.”

Those were the words of Veronica Wallam, a 65-year-old homeless woman, when she rang St Bart’s shelter earlier this year.

Ms Wallam—with 14-year-old grandson Zachari in tow—is one of a growing number of women “couch surfing” with family or friends because they can’t find somewhere permanent to live.

She recently left a violent relationship and relocated from Sydney to settle back in her hometown of Perth.

Perth’s tight rental market—with a particular lack of affordable private rentals—is keeping her homeless. Her priority listing with the WA housing department won’t see her access public housing for another two or three years.

“It’s not just the cost of private rentals that are prohibitive, when a landlord finds out you’re Aboriginal a lot of them don’t want to know,” she says.

“My grandson goes to school and I don’t drink, smoke or take drugs, so we would be great tenants.

“I currently sleep on my sister’s couch, who’s 78 and disabled. It’s hard because I’ve got a lot of health problems too—diabetes, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure and I’m blind in one eye.”

St Bart’s research shows that just under half the 13,000 people classified as homeless in WA are women, and the fastest growing demographic is women 50 and older.

St Bart’s CEO Andrew Hogan says the “new face of homelessness”—also known as “the invisible homeless”—will shock many.

“There has been a significant jump in the number of women and young children struggling to find a place to live and at present there are limited services that provide appropriate accommodation,” he says.

“It’s difficult to provide an exact number on how many homeless women and children there are but it is significant and growing.

“This group typically feel shame and failure so they hide and hence are dubbed ‘the invisible homeless’.”

The most common reason women seek assistance at St Bart’s shelter in East Perth is family violence, closely followed by financial difficulties.

Mr Hogan adds the organisation is trying to raise funds to refurbish its old Brown Street premises to house people like Ms Wallam.

To donate to St Bart’s visit http://www.stbarts.org.au. Homeless Week—unlike homelessness—ends August 11.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK