Rates of homelessness and insecure housing in the Hunter have reached all-time highs, according to long-term welfare workers.
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Crisis accommodation support is also at breaking point, while rental vacancies are virtually non-existent.
'Every specialist homelessness service in the Hunter is inundated with demand. People who are homeless or at risk have nowhere to go," Chief executive of Nova for Women and Children Kelly Hansen said.
"Many people who have never before experienced homelessness are sleeping in cars or couch surfing or worse. And women and children are at particular risk of becoming homeless because they have no other options."
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A coalition of concerned organisations will stage a 'tent city' demonstration in tram sheds at Foreshore Park Newcastle at 9.30am Monday to highlight the crisis.
People with lived experience and local experts will share their insights of the worsening situation.
A 2020 Homelessness NSW report found crisis services were supporting 26 per cent more people than they were funded for. In addition, a recent Equality Economic report found Newcastle and Lake Macquarie were the NSW regions forecast to see the highest increases in homelessness.
Hunter Homeless Connect Coordinator Nissa Phillips said many volunteer service providers did not report data, meaning the full extent of the crisis was hidden.
"We have collected dozens of personal testimonies from people experiencing homelessness," she said.
"People are homeless or at risk for a whole range of reasons. And we have learned that many people who access homelessness services are not counted in the official stats because they use volunteer-run services and their data isn't collected."
Hunter Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service coordinator Nicole Grgas, Coordinator described the worsening situation as terrifying.
"Hunter Tenants is seeing the highest level of demand for assistance in our history," she said.
"Almost half of our calls are from tenants facing eviction, many of these are for no grounds, or no-fault evictions.
"We are speaking with people who have never had issues finding a rental before who are now facing the real risk of homelessness for the first time in their lives. They are terrified."
Humanitarian Crisis in the Hunter Region Demonstration
Monday March 29, Foreshore Park Newcastle 9.30am - 11.30am
Speakers include people with lived experience; Kelly Hansen, CEO Nova for Women & Children; Katherine McKernan, CEO Homelessness NSW; an expert from Matthew Talbot Homelessness Service.