IT'S big. It's blue. And it'll be making its way through Bendigo from Monday, seeking to connect with some of the community's most vulnerable members.
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Bendigo-based housing assistance service Haven; Home Safe will today launch HeyVan.
The van will roll out on weeknights from 5pm - 9pm, offering mobile outreach services for people who are sleeping rough.
It will make its way along a designated route, initially incorporating parts of the Bendigo CBD, Kangaroo Flat, Eaglehawk and Huntly.
The HeyVan is expected to help up to 120 people a year who are experiencing homelessness.
The team aboard the van aims to prevent and respond to homelessness by helping people access emergency accommodation and specialist services, case management and housing support.
It is also expected to have a role in community education.
Anyone could find themselves sleeping rough, Haven chief operations officer Trudi Ray said.
“Rough sleeping is not just those sleeping on the city streets, but in overcrowded, unsuitable, and inappropriate accommodation such as parks, cars, bushland, river beds," she said.
The 2016 census recorded a 4.6 per cent rise in the rate of homelessness in Australia.
“For every 10,000 people, 50 are homeless,” Ms Ray said. About seven per cent of people experiencing homelessness are sleeping rough.
Bendigo West is believed to have the 10th highest population of homeless people of any Victorian electorate, with an estimated 191 people. About 157 people in Bendigo East identify as homeless.
“Although many people sleep rough for only a short time, the longer a person remains without shelter, the more serious the effects on their health and wellbeing will be, and the more difficult it is to resolve their homelessness,” Ms Ray said.
The HeyVan project is one of eight new programs targeting rough sleeping, statewide.
The state government will provide $1.28 million over two years to support the initiative as part of the Victorian Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Plan.
As part of that funding, Haven will launch an outreach service similar to HeyVan in Swan Hill next month.
Bendigo Community Health Services is a key HeyVan program partner.
Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative, Victoria Police, the Centre for Non-Violence, Anglicare Victoria, the City of Greater Bendigo and the Department of Health and Human Services are represented on the steering committee.
The initial HeyVan route
As advised by Haven; Home, Safe. Includes stops at:
- Hargreaves Street – Bendigo Community Health – Fork in the Road
- Huntly Reserve
- Eaglehawk – Neangar Lake
- Kangaroo Flat – Rotary Park
- Bendigo Central – Garsed Street
- Bendigo Central – Train Station
- Bendigo Central – Lyttleton Terrace
- Bendigo Central – Barnard Street, near the QEO
- Bendigo Central – Pall Mall – Rosalind Park
Route and timing might be altered as the service progresses.
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