At Life Without Barriers we deliver support through a range of interventions to people sleeping rough on the streets, in public places and bushland, and to people at risk of homelessness.

Our Homelessness services aim to resolve a person’s homeless status and re-establish their connections with the wider service network, addressing issues that contribute to, and cause, homelessness.

Our services include, the:

• Riverland Specialist Homelessness Service, South Australia, that includes the Riverland Assertive Outreach team and the Personal Helpers and Mentors Targeted Service.
• Metro Homelessness Service at Netley, South Australia, delivering assertive case management.

“Homelessness is not just the result of too few houses. Its causes are many and varied. Domestic violence, a shortage of affordable housing, unemployment, mental illness, family breakdown and drug and alcohol abuse all contribute to the level of homelessness in Australia (FaHCSIA, 2008).”

“Homelessness is not a choice. Homelessness is one of the most potent examples of disadvantage in the community, and one of the most important markers of social exclusion” (Department of Human Services, 2002).”

The Riverland Specialist Homelessness Service

This is an intensive case-management support service for clients sleeping rough in the Riverland area. Its strength is in its collaborative approach of engaging and developing a rapport with clients. This services includes a free-access service facility: laundry, shower, kitchen and gym; and our assertive outreach program that visits people sleeping rough along the Murray River in the Riverland area.

According to the 2006 National Census, there are 434 homeless people in the Riverland area. Of these recorded homeless, 55% were staying with friends or relatives, 24% lived in improvised dwellings, tents or slept rough, and 18% were in a Supported Accommodation Assistance Program. Today, our anecdotal in formation and observations put the figure of homeless in this area at well over 1,000.

The target group for the program includes people:

• caught in a cycle of homelessness/sleeping rough in the Riverland region
• sleeping in makeshift accommodation or in cars
• with limited capacity to access services
• in contact with other services, having a history of sleeping rough and are at risk of homelessness
• requiring support in the community due to social exclusion.

Adelaide Metro Homelessness program

LWBs Adelaide Metropolitan Homeless program supports vulnerable people with high and complex needs, many of whom have suffered extreme traumas. The team is trained in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention and trained in cultural awareness. Developing a trust-based relationship is the foundation of our program. The team provides each client with the necessary services to facilitate and support positive individualised outcomes.

Over 63% of the program’s clients are Aboriginal people living in the Adelaide Parklands, making this the location for our service, as LWB operates a “where they’re at” approach. Our clients have a high dependency on alcohol which can make them unpredictable so our approach as staff needs to follow harm-minimisation practices.

“LWB has really challenged my past negativity and now I feel strong. LWBs help has been important in getting me where I am now (long term sobriety and education and volunteering).”