The homeless crisis in the Shoalhaven is only getting worse with homeless shelters struggling to keep up with increased demands, according to frontline workers.
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Manager of the Homeless Hub and the Shoalhaven women's refuge SAHSSI Leslie Labka said both shelters are full, with a wait list that only seems to be growing.
"The Homeless Hub is seeing about 17 to 20 people a day. Our women's homeless and domestic violence service is supporting around 100 women at any given time," she said.
"Our refuge is full. And we have a waiting list for refuge accommodation and also case managers to support and assist people."
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Salt Ministries chief executive officer Peter Dover, also said the Salt Care homeless shelter is full every night.
"We're definitely seeing more people come through our doors. The last New South Wales street count showed that homelessness has grown by 25 per cent in the Shoalhaven from last year," he said.
"That's not accurate because we're seeing more and our shelter is full every single night."
With rental affordability increasing in the Shoalhaven, Ms Labka said the rental market is making it almost impossible to secure long-term housing for her clients.
"It's getting worse because people are being exited from long term rentals and they're not being able to secure an alternative rental in the time," she said.
"People are being priced out of the rental market. And it's getting worse because those people who are in crisis accommodation, we can't secure rentals for the same reasons.
"We had a gentleman over 70 years old come into the Homeless Hub who had been in a ten-year rental and the Landlord wants to increase his rent by $40 per week. He will no longer be able to afford that.
"When I looked on Realestate.com last week, there were only three rentals in the Shoalhaven that he could afford."
Mr Dover fears homelessness in the region will only get worse going into winter.
"Especially because the Gateway caravan closes for the last day at the end of August. So it means the people that are there will automatically become homeless," he said.
"I know Southern Cross Housing, the Homeless Hub and Salt are working to try and get people accommodation, but there just isn't any available accommodation to get them into. And we worry because Winter is just right around the corner.
"There just aren't any options left, unless there are some quick and drastic actions made that produce lots of houses straight away. But that doesn't feel possible because they seem to take a lot of planning."
Ms Labka said increasing housing stock and more support for case managers is needed to tackle the crisis.
"A short-term bed is not enough in itself. The ramifications of finding yourself homeless or at risk of becoming homeless are quite detrimental to mental and physical health," she said.
Last week, the NSW government revealed it will make vacant buildings and land in Wollongong suitable for short-term temporary accommodation, as part of a pilot program in its two decade long public housing strategy.
Shoalhaven Mayor Amanda Findley called on the NSW Government to invest more money into housing in the region, and said there are existing vacant blocks in Nowra that could be used as temporary accommodation.
"When it was announced, I was quite surprised because I had previously taken to Minister Pavey the suggestion that we use government land for meanwhile use for our homeless in the Shoalhaven and had been rejected," she said.
"They've been told over the last decade, that this crunch point is coming. And they've refused to invest heavily in social and affordable housing.
"And what needs to happen right now is that they need to take propositions...to refresh their portfolio of housing. They need to invest money in and quickly."
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