VOLUNTEERS will be heading out to the streets in the early hours of the morning to take part in the City of Bayswater’s inaugural Rough Sleeper Count.
The City is seeking volunteers, who are passionate about supporting people experiencing homelessness, to join the count event on March 17, from 1am to 3am.
The volunteers will use an app developed by the City to record the locations of people sleeping rough.
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READ NOWData collected will be shared with organisations and support services and will help the City form a local homelessness strategy.
Mayor Dan Bull encouraged anyone who “genuinely cared” for people doing it tough to get involved.
“People can experience homelessness for many reasons – including domestic violence, ill-health, long-term unemployment and mental health issues,” he said.
“The City of Bayswater is committed to advocating for those who don’t have a voice on this issue.
“All volunteers will attend a briefing session, teaching them how to collect data without disturbing people who are sleeping.”
Bayswater-based Perth Homeless Support Group Inc volunteer coordinator and depot manager Jed Fay said there were about six group volunteers who have signed up so far.
Ms Fay said the main issues that local homeless people faced included mental health, drug abuse, safety of women and having no overnight shelter.
“(Women) are often getting raped on the streets,” she said.
“A lot of our homeless people don’t actually get money because they don’t have a permanent IDs or a permanent address so they aren’t on payments.
“Those ones can’t afford things like backpackers, overnight shelters and stuff like that.”
Perth Homeless Support Group vice-president Aaron McGregor said the count was a great initiative.
“I have been fully involved with homelessness in the last two-and-a-half years to get numbers and have a strategy for overnight shelters,” he said.
“We started with about 100 (people) and now we are up to about 200.”
For information, visit the City’s website.