Family violence, as well as gambling and drug addiction, are the lead causes of homelessness among young people in central Victoria.  

Statistics from Homelessness Australia show the number of people without stable accommodation has increased during the past decade, up 20 per cent in Victoria alone. 

On any night, one in every 200 Australians – or 100,000 people – are homeless. 

Haven; Home, Safe chief executive officer Ken Marchingo said children without a permanent place to live suffered ill health and developmental delays. 

“When people are broken early, as children or teenagers, its difficult to put their lives back together, and it takes a very, very long time,” Mr Marchingo said. 

Without intervention, people who had endured family violence and homelessness in their youth could face the same problems in later life, he said.

Mr Marchingo’s organisation, which provides affordable housing options to vulnerable Victorians, has announced its Car Camp Out initiative, a fundraiser inviting the community to experience sleeping in the confines of their cars.

Back seats, loungeroom floors and even the city’s parklands are common places for homeless people to sleep at night.   

Haven; Home, Safe accommodated as many as 600 people each night, and they were aware of another 300 people who came into their site seeking assistance.

Mr Marchingo said people wanting to know how many children were homeless in Bendigo should imagine a school class photograph. 

“There’s at least that many kids without somewhere to put their heads down,” he said.

“Pick the kid that deserves to be homeless. 

“No kid does.”

Mr Marchingo, who has worked in homeless services for 32 years, described the number of people without reliable accommodation as “a shocking indictment” on the amount of support services available.

He called on Bendigonians to stand up for those without housing.  

“We could take a decision that, as an entire city, we have had enough with children being homeless and, for the families that are trying to support them, lean on the tiers of government for support,” he said.

While he said state and federal MPs had worked hard to address the problem of homelessness, Mr Marchingo believed services that integrated crisis accommodation, long-term affordable housing and emotional support were the way to combat the growing problem. 

“We can't just create thousands of extra houses out of thin air, but maybe there's an opportunity to broaden what we do,” he said. 

Mr Marchingo also said integrated service providers would be well-placed to address the poor mental health outcomes young homeless people experienced. 

Interruptions to a child’s routine when they were forced to find shelter were also detrimental. 

“We know that kids who move school regularly have a greater disposition to poor educational outcomes, so you can imagine how disrupted kids who are leaving home are in terms of their developmental milestones, and that expresses itself in a whole range of behavioural areas,” he said.

“Homelessness is a travelling companion of poverty, mental health, drug and alchool addiction, and a whole range of other societal evils.”

Bendigonians will get to experience what life is like without a house this year, camping out in their cars to raise cash for homeless services.

The Car Camp Out is an initiative of Bendigo-based Haven; Home, Safe, and asks people to put themselves in the shoes of people less fortunate, something chief executive officer Ken Marchingo said was difficult to do. 

“There's a lot of mythology about homelessness, and there's a lot of erroneous ideas about who makes up the homeless people,” he said.

As advocacy group Homelessness Australia explains, homeless people at not just those without a roof over their heads, but without a dwelling that is consistent and secure.

Campers who join in the August 6 event at the Bendigo Showgrounds will get to hear from people who have lived through periods of homelessness, as well as staff working inside organisations like Haven; Home, Safe.

Bendigo mayor Rod Fyffe welcomed the fundraiser on Friday. 

Asked what the City of Greater Bendigo could do to address homelessness inside its borders, Cr Fyffe said the council was able to aid in planning for new services and advocate on behalf of homeless people.

“People, for various circumstances, are forced into living out of their normal homes and we need to make a concerted effort to work with state and federal bodies, and other organisations, to make sure people stay in their homes and have the support services to stay there,” Cr Fyffe said. 

“Anything that improves people’s lives is a positive step forward.”

Money raised from the event will aid the not-for-profit fund projects like the Sidney Myer Haven, which offers temporary residence and development programs for vulnerable Bendigo citizens. 

Mr Marchingo said campers were welcome for the whole night or just a few hours, and their contributions could put people’s lives back on track.

“None of us can, by virtue of our personality, skill or training, change someone's life,” he said. “But we can try and reset their trajectory.” 

For more information, visit www.carcampout.com.au