A charity tackling homelessness by giving rough sleepers a secure place to sleep in specially outfitted buses is heading to Sydney.
Sleepbus has set up services in regional centres and Canberra. Its founder wants to set up at the centre of the nation's biggest city where the latest census estimates 3,600 people to be homeless.
Simon Rowe says a bus is being built for Sydney and will provide beds for up to 18 rough sleepers a night.
"The idea of Sleepbus is to provide a safe and temporary place for them to get their thoughts together, figure out their next steps and find their pathway out of homelessness," Mr Rowe says.
"Unfortunately, there's no shortage of people that need our help."
Mr Rowes says the charity is currently speaking to Sydney-based councils and organisations that have shown interest in the service, which he hopes to have operating by the middle of winter, but a location is not yet confirmed.
'You need to do something'
Mr Rowe says as a business owner he was in a good position and ready to retire at the age of 40 when he spoke with a homeless man sleeping in the doorway of a bank in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda.
"He was the tiredest [sic] guy I'd ever seen in my life and that was the thing that hit me," Mr Rowe says.
"I went home, told my kids about it, who were then twin 15-year-old boys, and I started crying.
"Then they said, 'Well, you need to do something about that, Dad'."
After looking into what he could do to help, he noticed a lack of emergency accommodation options for homeless people.
"I just wanted to give people a door, a place to sleep with a lockable door that closed and that wasn't a tent," Mr Rowe says.
DIY renovations
The buses are designed by Simon and outfitted by himself and volunteers.
They begin with old school buses that have been donated or bought, which then have their windows knocked out and one side removed to install the door for sleep pods.
Heating, air conditioning, lights, an intercom and phone chargers are also installed.
Mr Rowe says he learned to do it by watching YouTube tutorials from so-called van-lifers who retrofitted old buses into homes.
Despite the high workload, he prefers the charity to do it rather than the high cost of employing tradespeople.
"The original Sleepbus used an electrician to wire it, and they're expensive, so we had to work it out," Mr Rowe says.
Social housing a long-term solution
Homelessness NSW chief executive Trina Jones said while she understands that people want to help, investment in social housing and support is the best approach.
"We know there are services out there that recognise that it's not okay to let someone sleep on the street," Ms Jones says.
"We know that investment in housing with support is the appropriate solution to support people to thrive and to have a safe place to call home."
Ms Jones wants the NSW government to commit ongoing funding to the Together Home program, which moves rough sleepers into long-term housing and which is due to end in June.
"Over 1000 people were supported off the street and into homes through COVID and we want to see that program continued," Ms Jones says.
"Long-term support and a safe home is the way to end homelessness."
Mr Rowe says the Sleepbus is not meant to be anything more than a short-term solution.
"We want people to have a good sleep and then leave and go and find these other agencies, go and find the pathway out of homelessness," he says.
"We want to keep them safe and healthy until they find that pathway."
