Community Invited to Stand with Peninsula's Homeless
One Night Outside:
By Brendon Telfer
One night sleeping in a tent or the back of a car will never compare with the reality faced by hundreds of people living without a permanent home on the Mornington Peninsula.
But Southern Peninsula Community Support hopes a community sleepout later this month will help shine a light on what CEO Jeremy Maxwell describes as one of the region's most confronting and largely unseen social crises.
The Southern Peninsula Winter SleepOut will be held at The Ranch Adventure Park, Boneo, on Friday July 31, raising funds for outreach programs supporting people experiencing homelessness across the southern peninsula.
Maxwell says homelessness on the peninsula continues to worsen despite years of advocacy.
"Everything that we're doing has grown. The number of people at risk of homelessness has grown, the number of rough sleepers has grown, the number of people struggling with the cost of living has grown," he told RPP FM.
The statistics paint a sobering picture.
More than 160 people are officially recorded as sleeping rough across the Mornington Peninsula, with around two-thirds living on the southern peninsula. Maxwell believes the true figure may be two or three times higher, as many people remain hidden from official counts.
Perhaps most distressing is the human cost.
"Seven people have died on the foreshore in the last 18 months," Maxwell said, describing rough sleeping as "a life of survival."
"If you are rough sleeping in Australia, the average age of death is just 47. That's shocking."
Contrary to popular belief, he says homelessness is increasingly affecting ordinary Peninsula residents.
Older women living alone after losing a partner, hospitality workers whose employment disappears during quieter months, and long-term locals priced out of the rental market are all appearing at Southern Peninsula Community Support seeking help.
"People think homelessness only affects people with long-term social issues. That's simply not what we're seeing anymore," Maxwell said.
The organisation currently receives no government funding for its outreach programs, relying instead on community donations and volunteers to keep essential services operating. Those services include Homeless Connections outreach workers and the mobile SPLASH shower and laundry unit, providing hot showers, clean clothes, meals and connections to support services for people sleeping rough.
The Winter SleepOut was inspired by Jodi and Aaron Neary, owners of The Ranch Adventure Park, after witnessing the organisation's work firsthand.
"It's all about raising awareness and raising much-needed funds for people in our community doing it tough, and the people doing their best to support them," Ms Neary said.
Participants can spend the night in their own tent or vehicle, hear firsthand accounts from outreach workers, and gain a greater understanding of the realities faced by rough sleepers every night of the year.
Maxwell says the experience is symbolic—but important.
"One night in a safe place doesn't compare in any way to surviving a winter on the foreshore," he said.
"But without government funding, it's the support of our local community that makes it possible for us to deliver the outreach programs that are literally keeping people alive."
The Southern Peninsula Winter SleepOut takes place on Friday, July 31 at The Ranch Adventure Park, 810 Boneo Road, Boneo. Registrations, donations and further information are available through Southern Peninsula Community Support and The Ranch Adventure Park social media pages.
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Southern Peninsula Community Support CEO Jeremy Maxwell with The Ranch Adventure Park's Jodi Neary ahead of the Southern Peninsula Winter SleepOut
Photo Courtesy: Tracee Hutchison
