A survey of Sydney’s inner city homeless and needy who use The Exodus Foundation’s mobile food van has found that almost two-thirds had been visiting the van for more than 12 months.
The survey – conducted by the foundation in conjunction with Macquarie University – involved 77 of those using the van and was conducted over a six night period. Almost 90 per cent of those surveyed were male with 75 per cent aged 31 or older.
PICTURE: Courtesy of The Exodus Foundation
Of those surveyed, more than half had no permanent form of accommodation, either sleeping rough or in boarding houses. Exodus say that – and the fact that almost two-thirds had been visiting the van for more than a year – indicated an “entrenched level” of disadvantage.
Rev Bill Crews, chief executive of The Exodus Foundation, says the inner city homeless appeared to be slipping through government safety nets.
He adds the fact almost 55 per cent of those surveyed have diagnosed mental health conditions showed mental health issues are at “crisis levels” among the homeless and needy of inner Sydney.
“If any other part of the community suffered to this extent, there would be demands for government intervention,” he says. “I can only hope this survey acts as a catalyst for government action.”
Other findings of the survey showed more than half (55 per cent) had been unemployed for the past 12 months and among those, 65 per cent were receiving government benefits.
The foundation’s city mobile food van, located on the corner of St Marys Road and Yurong Parkway in Woolloomooloo, serves about 160 people every night.
The foundation also runs a food van in Marrickville and a free restaurant in Ashfield, in the city’s inner west.