As the cost of living crisis places unprecedented pressure on charities, Scott Endersby says staff at Bondi Beach Wayside Chapel still have time to check on how he is feeling.
“They seem to know when I'm an emotional wreck," he told AAP.
"They seem to know when I'm actually upset because you can see it in my eyes and stuff.”
Living on a disability support pension, Mr Endersby visited the Sydney mission for help when the lease ended on his charity-run share house.
As the cost of rentals surges to record highs across Australia, the need to increase access to social housing has become critical, says Wayside Bondi team leader Joseph Ireland.
The public housing waitlist in NSW has grown to 58,000 and single men like Mr Endersby face significant delays after applying.
“That has actually created a situation where people like Scott have got to try and access a private rental,” Mr Ireland said.
After Wayside assisted with an online application, Mr Endersby was fortunately able to secure a lease with a friend.
But the cost of the property means more than three quarters of his disability support payments will go solely towards rent.
“That's why at places like Wayside, we provide cheap meals, laundry, some clothing, some support where we can," Mr Ireland said.
Mr Endersby stops in to eat at the mission each day but says Wayside also serves as an emotional buffer when things get tough.
“I try and make my own thing happen but if I can't ... I'll reach out for help,” he said.
“Joe is such an amazing person as are the rest of the guys that work here.
“It’s the company, being surrounded by beautiful people.”
Wayside Chapel has had a 92 per cent surge in requests for help, handing out double the amount of clothes, underwear, blankets and meals to the community in the past year.
An average of 316 people are expected to visit the charity every day this winter, up a third on last year.
Demand is unprecedented, beyond what was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and Global Financial Crisis of 2007 and 2008.
The most recent Census data estimates 122,494 people in Australia are homeless, 55 per cent of them men.
The number of people living in tents or improvised homes jumped 103 per cent between 2020 and 2022, Mission Australia’s Homelessness and Stable Housing Impact Report 2023 found last month.
Frontline staff from 63 homelessness and housing support services involved in the report said they were facing an influx of requests and the housing crisis had deteriorated to the lowest point it had ever been.
