Geraldton services join forces to help rough sleepers during Homelessness Week as some share their experience

Some of Geraldton’s rough sleepers opened up what it’s like living on the street at a free community event to mark Homelessness Week on Friday offering a meal and essential items. Almost 80 rough sleepers — including Chris Carnamah and Roberta Abbott — gathered at Maitland Park where more than 10 community services joined forces to provide food, supplies and assistance to those struggling. Mr Carnamah said he’s lived on the streets for about three years after he was “kicked out of his own place”, staying anywhere he could, including abandoned buildings such as the Batavia Motor Inne. Using a shopping trolley to cart his minimal belongings, Mr Carnamah he had a Shar Pei dog named Diesel that protected him when he slept at night. “I’ll live anywhere,” he said. “I have my dog, that’s my security. “If anyone come along or anything I’ve got a dog that’ll chew on them. They say ‘don’t go near that fella there, he’s got a big dog’. “I carry around whatever I’ve got, whatever I collect, that’s it. But I’ve got my swag, it’s in the bush over there.” Although he doesn’t have much to his name, Mr Carnamah’s spirits remain strong. He said with a close-knit friendship group beside him, he was able to keep positive through tough times. “Me, I’ll just do what I do always. Just be yourself, just mingle with all the tribe, all the mob you hang around with and you’re right,” he said. Friday’s event, which included a sausage sizzle, was hosted by Regional Alliance West in partnership with Mission Australia and The Men’s Hub. Centacare set up their outreach van to assist with the washing and drying of clothes, while Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service provided free flu and COVID jabs and put kangaroo stew and chicken curry on the table. Short Term Accommodation For Youth (STAY) even set up a popcorn and slushy machine, WA Country Health Service’s ICARE program gave out dignity bags full with essential items, and Desert Blue Connect offered a range of free textiles, including winter clothing and blankets. Ms Abbott said she hasn’t had a home to call her own for more than two years now, couch-surfing where ever she could. “I have to sleep over anywhere where they’ll give me a bed,” she said. “(Right now) I’m just staying roughly with my mum.” Regional Alliance West operations manager Chris Gabelish said a big misconception was that homeless people chose their fate, but even he admitted to falling close to losing everything. “People out in the broader community often point the finger at homeless people, that it’s their fault they’re homeless,” he said. “Anyone can become homeless at any point in time in their life and sometimes it’s not until you have these setbacks in life, that you actually get to have some empathy with people that are experiencing it year after year. “(I) came very, very close, where it was nigh on impossible to put a feed on the table for my two kids.” Mission Australia district area manager Milton Milloy said service providers across Geraldton were working together to address homelessness, particularly in recent times following the COVID pandemic and cyclone Seroja. “There’s lots of things the community’s had to deal with over the last three years. Now’s the time to plan ahead, learn lessons and push forward,” he said.