Sleeping rough

By Bridget Brady
HOMELESS and sleeping in her car, a Cranbourne single mother calls her Ford sedan home.
Ms Camm, 33, parks her car around “nice looking areas” in Cranbourne and Hampton Park to sleep for the night, and she is not alone, according to a Cranbourne support agency.
Ms Camm (who did not want her first name used) never dreamt she would be in the “horrible” situation she finds herself in today, and said finding accommodation was a draining and at times impossible task.
“There is nothing worse than sleeping in your car.
“You don’t sleep, you just nod off,” she said.
“I thought there would be so much more help out there.
“I don’t know what I would do if my car broke down.
“I’m living out of it. It is my life.”
Ms Camm has been homeless for about six months after a back injury prevented her from continuing her job and her landlord told her the house she was renting in Cranbourne would be sold.
Homeless and without work, her life took a completely different turn.
“The housing department told me there are about 90 other people in the same situation as me in the Cranbourne area.
“I ring them every Tuesday and their answer is always the same: ‘We don’t have any houses for you’.”
Ms Camm said she often stayed with her mother in Hampton Park and other friends around the area, and said her four- year- old son always had somewhere to sleep.
“I have friends and family but they have families and lives of their own.
“I can’t expect them to put me up all the time.
“ I feel like they have done too much for me already.”
Manager of the Cranbourne Information and Support Service (CISS), Leanne Petrides, said there had been a significant increase in the number of people who slept in their cars in the Cranbourne area.
“We have seen a dramatic increase in the last few weeks with the number of people sleeping in their cars,” Ms Petrides said.
“These people are living in completely unsatisfactory and unsafe conditions.”
President of CISS Ros Larke said the housing shortage was particularly stretched at the moment because of the Victorian bushfire crisis.
“Historically, there has been a great shortage of accommodation for families in this area and it is getting worse,” Ms Larke said. Ms Camm, who is not currently looking for work, said she did not stand a chance of getting approved for a rental property in Cranbourne.
“Last week I went to look at a property in Cranbourne and there were about 30 other people there looking who had jobs. What chance do I have?”
Cranbourne MP Jude Perera said it took a partnership between a range of organisations to tackle the housing shortage. “Cranbourne does not even have a caravan park, which would assist with crisis and short-term accommodation.
“Maybe the council may wish to look into this,” Mr Perera said.
Before Christmas, Ms Camm said the housing department told her she would have somewhere to live by March.
Last fortnight, she was told the wait could be as long as five years.
“I really got my hopes up for that. I was depending on it. I kept saying to everyone ‘it won’t be long now’.”