An Australian father has become the latest victim of the housing crisis: he is forced to live in a tent, admitting that his own children are not even aware of his living situation.
Peter Woodforde said his children would be devastated if they saw him living in a tarp-wrapped gazebo in Adelaide’s northeast.
With a vacancy rate of around one per cent and rent so expensive, the 58-year-old is calling for more to be done to help people living on the streets.
Woodforde’s teenage daughter, who lives with her mother, previously told him it “hurt” her to know her father was struggling.
But what hurts Woody even more is knowing that he can’t support his children.
Peter Woodforde, or Woody as he is affectionately known, said his children would be devastated if they saw him living in a tent in Adelaide’s north-east.
“All parents want to give their children everything they can and want to give them the best opportunity to have a good life,” he said. 7News.
Woodforde assures his children that their father will recover, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is missing out on “some of his golden years.”
“I help where I can, I can pick them up and drop them off at school, but now they are too far away for me to do that,” he said.
As inflation continues to hit hard, shelters for rough sleepers are operating at maximum capacity in Adelaide.
A recent Salvation Army survey of about 1,500 Australians found that one in three people feared becoming homeless, while 94 per cent resorted to extreme measures to save money.
The report found that 49 percent of people showered less frequently, 22 percent used candles and torches to reduce their electricity bills, and 11 percent used public amenities such as bathrooms in shopping centers to avoid using water at home. .
About 13 percent of families said their children went to school hungry, and seven percent said the children went an entire day without eating. Meanwhile, 69 per cent admitted they had gone without food so their children could eat.
On average, people were left with just $8 a week after paying for essential costs such as housing, utilities, medicine and groceries.
Salvation Army Major Brendan Nottle said Australia was seeing a “tsunami of need” across the country.
Woodforde dropped out of school after losing his brother and eventually became homeless.
“The efforts people go to to survive are shocking and unnecessary in this country,” he said.
“It is outrageous that eight out of ten surveyed live below the poverty line.”
Woodforde is calling on the government to do more, saying enough has been said.
‘What happens if suddenly people start dying in the streets? What is the government going to say then? she asked.
Woodforde said he rebelled and dropped out of school after losing his brother to leukemia while on a school trip when he was 10.
He said that he He found it difficult to find work and eventually ended up homeless.
He has been sleeping outdoors for about five years.
Desperate to turn his life around, Woodforde recently launched ‘Woody and Skip’, selling prints of poems about the homeless, to try and help other people who are struggling.
“I think I must have been through all this, so I have the knowledge base (to help others),” he said.
He recently contacted Anglicare SA for help and is waiting to receive follow-up support.
Rotary clubs in South Australia have been collecting shelter bags to donate to people sleeping in cars, tents or under decks.
