The St Vincent de Paul Society was established in South Australia in 1884 to address significant post-colonial poverty and disadvantage and continues to provide those in need with food, clothing and shelter. The Society, known locally as Vinnies SA, has been at the forefront of poverty relief , advocacy for social justice and policy change for more than a century.

This year, on our 140^th anniversary, we face one of our most challenging times.

With fewer donations and volunteers, while struggling with our own increasing operational costs, we are confronted with increasing demand from South Australians experiencing, or on the brink of, homelessness and poverty that we’ve never seen before.

We are providing more food, clothing, and fuel vouchers and emergency shelter to new faces. For the first time, Vinnies SA has been buying people, including families, tents to live in. We are also encountering many people sleeping in cars who a few years ago would have been first in line for emergency accommodation and priority housing.

These people are languishing in crises.

Last week, our Vinnies’ Fred’s Van served more than 120 people a free hot meal at Gawler Place – the highest number in recent memory.

Our Vinnies women’s shelter, which houses women, children and their pets is always full, with a waiting list. Our men’s shelter is turning away 15 men most days.

Those able to secure a room are staying three times longer because there is nowhere for them to go. The supported accommodation or social housing that they need is not available and the private rental market is not an option.

Right now, the only alternative for those in need is a car, a tent, a friend’s sofa or the street.

All this is happening in an environment where specialist homelessness and domestic and family violence services are underfunded and under resourced, while demand for services has increased exponentially.

This is the frontline of homelessness in 2024 and we must do better, and it’s why we are so reliant on our annual fundraiser, the Vinnies CEO Sleepout, introduced 15 years ago to harness the goodwill of the state’s business community.

An overwhelmed system leads to homelessness

The homelessness system is overwhelmed and blocked because there are more people experiencing homelessness and we cannot get the housing outcomes that people need.

In South Australia, we have lost more than 20,000 social housing properties to the private market and there are more than 16,000 people on the social housing waiting list. Mean weekly combined rent in South Australia has jumped 88 per cent in the past 15 years and 40,000 South Australian households cannot afford to rent as real incomes remain stagnant.

Even if low-income families could afford to rent, Adelaide’s rental vacancy rate is repeatedly the lowest in the nation, the emergency accommodation system is constantly full and there is not enough social housing to meet need. Combined, these factors are causing long-term health, well-being and social damage that will be felt for generations.

The state government is to be commended for starting to re-stock public housing however the hoped-for targets are not enough to meet current or future need.

Federal government investment in affordable housing through the multi-billion dollar future housing fund is also welcome but affordable housing is out of the financial reach of low-income families and will not materialise for years.  We need a plan to provide safe places for South Australians now.

We need to start thinking outside the square for some short-term and longer-term solutions to circuit-break this pervasive cycle of homelessness that should end with stable and permanent housing.

There is potential in this current homelessness crisis to adopt a similar short-term housing solution used by governments around the world to house those left with nothing following a natural disaster, such as a bushfire or floods.

They are portable living pods – mini-houses that can sleep up to four people, contain a bathroom, kitchenette, washing machine and are airconditioned. The pods are completely portable and can also be connected to mains water, electricity and sewerage.

Vinnies SA is currently working with Shelter SA to pilot a short-term shelter program using portable pods for people locked out of the private rental market with nowhere to go.

Vinnies SA could harness the goodwill of like-minded organisations, local councils and churches with excess and vacant land to house one or two pods for short-term housing.

Managed by St Vincent De Paul (Society) Housing Australia (Amelie Housing, our housing arm), the pods could provide a couple, single parent or family with a place to stay for up to six months – time to get back on their feet and forge connections and opportunities needed to find more stable housing.

Homeshare is another strategy for delivering viable, affordable and sustainable housing options which has not really received the traction or funding it deserves in South Australia compared to other states and overseas.

Homeshare involves people living in shared households through carefully negotiated and supported arrangements to reduce housing costs, address social isolation and share housekeeping responsibilities.

The traditional Homeshare model involves matching a homeowner with a spare room, who could benefit from companionship and help in the home, with a home sharer who needs shelter and short-term accommodation.

This service is perfect for South Australia’s ageing population of Baby Boomers who relish their independence and want to live for as long as they can in the family home.

It could also work for social housing tenants who are living in houses with spare bedrooms that are surplus to their needs. Social housing tenants could voluntarily offer their spare room to those locked out of the rental market who do not qualify or can’t keep waiting for social housing.

The living pods and Homeshare concepts are just two examples of the imperative to venture outside traditional responses to addressing homelessness. All options must be pursued to fill the gap between the promised affordable housing that will take time to build and will not be suitable for low-income households.

It’s clear that providing genuine pathways to a home, where people can repair from the cycle of homelessness, is one of the keys to helping South Australians receive stable education and training so that they may reach their potential and contribute to society in a meaningful way now and in the future.

Evelyn O’Loughlin is the Chief Executive Officer of Vinnies SA.