This week is Homelessness Week and despite the stereotypes, Australia, the fastest growing rate of homelessness in Australia is single women over 50.
The challenges facing Yarrawonga Mulwala Community and Learning Centre and the people who need their help are significant, but stories of generosity, from a local business donating $2,000 to a stranger quietly giving $100, show the difference a caring community can make.
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For people living without a secure home, or unable to afford basics such as electricity, food or transport, it can be the difference between facing hardship alone and receiving desperately needed help.
Kennedy Real Estate principal, Danielle Kennedy said a recent donation of $2,000 towards homelessness was just “doing their bit to pay it forward” to their community.
“Our work is about shelter, so we feel really aligned, and we'll continue to work with the community centre by donating when we can,” Danielle said.
YMCLC executive officer, Julie-Anne Clarke said it had been a tough year for the community centre with ever-increasing competition for grants and funding, while supporting about 2,000 people last year - a figure she expects to reach 3,000 this year.
Julie-Anne said the $2,000 donation would go directly towards the homeless and community shower program, which provided access to hot showers three days a week, personal hygiene bags for children, women and men, and contributed to electricity costs for the program.
“We're very, very fortunate that we do have this program; about 10 people regularly use the service every week,” she said.
“But I think it’s important for people to be aware that it's not just homeless people; it's also people who do have a home but can’t afford to pay for electricity.
“We had a lovely local man come in last week who has a unit here, but no electricity because he can’t afford it.
“He’s been very unwell and not able to work.
“We were able to support him to initiate an emergency payment; with the shower program and a couple of Coles vouchers to get him through.
“While he was with us, there was a lady sitting in our reception area – we were so flat out and didn’t even have a spare office – and he mentioned he had 16c to his name.
“I took him through to Food Share and on the way out, this lovely lady put $100 into my hand and asked me to give it to him.”
According to Julie-Anne, YMCLC is aware of about 10 local people living rough but said many, many more were couch surfing with friends or family, with no place of their own.
The stereotypical homeless person, an old alcoholic man or a young person with a drug problem, is changing.
The fastest growing rate of homelessness in Australia is single women over 50, often escaping a bad marriage, domestic violence, or having lost their partner or their job.
YMCLC is seeing an increasing number of women coming into the centre.
“Through domestic violence, women can very quickly become homeless or a rough sleeper,” Julie-Anne said.
“And quite often they end up coming to us.”
Danielle also said they were seeing an increased number of rental clients who they were having to help move due to domestic violence.
“We have three cases right now,” she said.
“The government isn’t helping with this housing crisis; the taxes on houses are extraordinary and although it hasn’t been legislated yet, it's put so much fear into the market that landlords are selling because the taxes are so great.
“The minimum standards required make it really difficult for landlords with escalating building costs to update their homes.”
“The government isn’t helping with this housing crisis; the taxes on houses are extraordinary and although it hasn’t been legislated yet, it's put so much fear into the market that landlords are selling because the taxes are so great.”
YMCLC executive officer, Julie-Anne Clarke with Kennedy Real Estate principal Danielle Kennedy and sales agent Caitlin Whitelock at the community showers in Hovell St.
As fuel prices escalate, businesses are having to pass the increases down the supply chain, causing a blow out in everyday living expenses.
As more people turn to YMCLC for help, Julie-Anne says people need to realise that they have no-one to pass those costs on to.
“For example, the State Government introduced a 20 per cent rebate on vehicle registrations and we were inundated with people,” she said.
“Some of these people need help to establish a Services Victoria account ... people don’t understand the IT requirement; they aren’t IT savvy.
“People still need assistance with MyGov and that's what we do a lot.”
YMCLC has four people working full time to support people with Services Australia but is only part funded for one, and Julie-Anne says the organisation needs to find a way to be sustainable.
“If we keep operating at a loss then we won’t be there,” she said.
“Most of our staff are doing two jobs but we can’t afford to employ more people.
“Two or three years ago we were successful in majority of the grants we applied for, but now there’s 180 organisations applying for the same grant; it’s really competitive.”
“Two or three years ago we were successful in majority of the grants we applied for, but now there’s 180 organisations applying for the same grant; it’s really competitive.”
As more of Yarrawonga Mulwala’s homeless community sets up camp on the riverbank (see Letters to Editor page ??) it’s the State Government rangers being called on when welfare checks are needed.
“The rangers are amazing people,” Julie-Anne said.
“But if they were to move them on, where are they going to send them?”
For one of the most urgent social problems in Australia, there are no easy answers, and no quick fix.
YMCLC works closely with local churches and Senior Citizens groups, which are also limited in their capacity.
Increasing social housing is desperately needed, but it’s a longer-term proposition and doesn’t address the immediate challenges faced by those without a secure home, or the organisations trying to help them.
The theme for 2026 Homelessness Week is Homelessness Action Now.
Julie-Anne says ‘it takes a village’ and while the local community here is very supportive, she says if there was a simple answer, it would have been found.
“We have a wonderful community here, and local businesses like Kennedy Real Estate and the Commonwealth Bank, which recently gifted us a donation through their Community Giving Fund,” she said.
“But we need more Kennedy Real Estates and more Commonwealth Banks, so we can continue to deliver the programs and services that are needed; so we can operate viably and provide that support.
“Our current premises are bursting at the seams; we are so constrained by space that we just do not have anywhere else to move.”
YMCLC’s plans to relocate to the old primary school, once the site is redeveloped, will make things a lot easier.
Establishment of the Yarrawonga Community Cultural and Education Precinct will allow for all the services to be in a central location, making access easier for people.
As demand for YMCLC’s services keeps growing and access to grant funding shrinks, the organisation is finding itself more reliant on the generosity of local businesses and residents to help people navigate times of crisis.
This week is Homelessness Week and those who are able are encouraged to donate to YMCLC and help ensure that people with nowhere else to turn can continue to receive practical support, dignity and hope.
Can you help?
• All donations to YMCLC remain in the local community and are tax deductible.
• To make a donation go to https://ymclc.edu.au
• Every donation, small or large makes a difference.
