The Growing Concern of Homelessness in Parramatta

At the peak of sundown, near and around Westfield, Parramatta, a group of homeless people gather on a small sheet along with their necessary equipment, to prepare for the night ahead. Some arrange for a bottle of water and food, others bring their bike and a small pillow, ready for the cold hours. As retail workers clock out of their jobs and walk to their cars or buses; the growing crowd of homeless people on the path is concerning those leaving their 9 pm shifts.

“Honestly, it’s just upsetting seeing these people like this, I came out of my paying job and see those that are less fortunate, it’s just sad, just terrible.” says a retail worker, leaving work at Westfield, Parramatta.

The footpath outside Westfield Parramatta, where many homeless people choose to reside. SAFA KHAN

As homelessness has grown immensely due to COVID-19 according to Equity Economics, “Over 9,000 more people in NSW will be homeless – a rise of 24.0 per cent in the homeless population.” It is important to question, how councils, governments and local communities are helping the less fortunate.

A local charity organization, Parramatta Misson, is a non for profit organization providing those in need of service within the community. According to their website, “Parramatta Mission provides meals, accommodation and mental health services across Greater Western Sydney, with almost 500 staff and many volunteers delivering more than 70 services.” Furthermore, Parramatta Mission describes their most important goal as to “provide assistance to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities to assist them in transforming their lives. These include people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, facing crisis and people living with mental illness.”

Paul Mousa, a representative on behalf of Parramatta Mission, spoke on the increase of homelessness, and how his charity helps those in need.

When asked if there has been an increase since COVID-19, he stated, “there certainly has been purely on finical hardship, people have lost their jobs, I had to maintain mortgages, had to pay rent; yes there has been marked increase of a demand on welfare services.”

He further explained his role (and his organizations), on how they attempt to decrease the growing numbers of those living on the streets.

“How do we help them? We listen to them. First and foremost we welcome them and then we listen to them. What we offer them is initially a safe place where they can be themselves and not be judged, where they are treated with dignity, and we are not funded so we refer to other services to get assistance, so we have a relationship with Centrelink, we have a relationship with housing, we have a relationship with Parramatta Council, we have a relationship with legal aid…”

When questioned about those residing on the pathway near Westfield Parramatta, Paul, aware of the current situation, adds;

“100% yes currently there’s five, every housing has an outreach team, Parramatta council has an outreach team that walk around and have been trying to interact. One thing you gotta understand though is if I came up to you and you were there and you said to go away, that’s the limitation of our interaction, we can’t force people to do anything, we can’t put them where we think they have to be, but we will continue to try and engage, maybe they’ll say yes tomorrow or the week later you know what I mean, we show persistence”

Paul concluded that Parramatta Mission “provides help through every walk of life,” and with the growing number of homeless people around the Western suburbs ( due to COVID-19) having a small non for profit organization to help those in need, allows those who reside on street pathways, and park benches to have a small home, only if it is for a certain period, with an outcome unknown.