Churches are place of worship – but they are also being turned into places of refuge for the homeless
A trial program is being set up in Adelaide’s northern suburbs to turn churches into temporary accommodation for the homeless. Similar programs have already been running interstate, but, until now, South Australia has not had the legal framework to allow it.
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00:00Where's a good spot for this bed?
00:04Well, we'll put it up. Nice open spot here.
00:07This place of worship will soon be turned into a place of refuge for those in need.
00:12We thought, can we do something, at least at the pointy end of homelessness,
00:16and we thought, well we've got buildings, let's use them.
00:20But we found out there were challenges with legislation,
00:23so that's been taking a while to work through.
00:25It's a legal barrier that's led a group of church leaders
00:28in the northern suburbs to initiate a change to state planning guidelines,
00:33which will allow churches across South Australia that comply with building standards
00:37to be used as temporary crisis accommodation.
00:40What this winter program will provide is other options for people
00:44who are finding themselves in often quite terrible weather during the winter,
00:49a place to seek shelter, warmth, comfort, a hot meal, a hot shower.
00:55Geoff Kneebling spends his days looking after people in crisis.
00:59It's just so rewarding to see people come that far with their lives,
01:04after they've been sort of in the slumps,
01:07they're up now feeling like they're worth something in society.
01:11It's a big difference.
01:13He's one of 45 volunteers who have so far signed up to help run the trial.
01:18There's a need for it.
01:20The amount of people that I started with and what I've got now
01:23has tripled in the 12 months that I've been doing it.
01:27The number of people without a secure home in South Australia
01:30is estimated to be in the thousands.
01:33That's a lot more than the total number of crisis accommodation beds.
01:38Even though there are hundreds of beds available, they're full.
01:42All of our accommodation operates on a 100% capacity rate.
01:46This is one of 10 beds that will be set up for the pilot program.
01:50The program will run on just Monday and Tuesday nights initially for three weeks.
01:55It's hoped that what they learn from this trial
01:57will help set them up for a continuous service throughout next winter.
02:01We want to show care and compassion and love to people in that situation.
02:05Strong community spirit in the face of a relentless cost-of-living crisis.