SLEEPING on rooftops, in deserted buildings and under bridges is no way to live, but for many Mandurah locals it’s a reality they face every night.
Local teenager Matt Cotterell knows the cold, dark and uncomfortable places to sleep in Mandurah all too well.
The 19-year-old experienced a troubled home life with his mother and stepfather for 17 years and decided to escape the “horrible environment” more than a year ago.
Mr Cotterell said he had an unstable childhood and was moved around the country through no choice of his own.
He said he wanted to run away and escape the hostilities he was subject to at the age of eight but didn’t have the opportunity until he turned 18.
“Life at home was really s..t and the only good people I had in my life were my Godparents,” Mr Cotterell said.
Despite doing well in high school in the eastern states, Mr Cotterell said life circumstances forced him to cease his education when he was in year 11.
Once he turned 18 he “took the chance to run away” and ended up in Mandurah and has never looked back.
He said he met a lot of good people in the area who helped him get on track which he never had before.
However, Mr Cotterell said as much help he had from people going through similar situations; he had trouble accessing help and services in the area.
He said there was definitely a limit to homeless services in Mandurah for youth under 25, especially affordable housing.
Mr Cotterell never gave up and continued accessing homeless services Mandurah did have to offer, from Calvary Youth Services and Peel Community Kitchen.
From accessing these services Mr Cotterell has been able to get his life back on track and has been in a stable home for three weeks.
But with an increase in homelessness in the area, especially with people aged under 25, Mr Cotterell said he was one of the exceptions.
“Most homeless kids I know are homeless because they can’t put up with their parents who make them do homework; nothing even close to the environment I was brought up in,” he said.
“I never chose this life.
“I think I deserve something better than this.”
Now Mr Cotterell is turning his life around and is working towards getting into construction.
His advice to homeless people or those at risk of becoming homeless was to keep in contact with agencies and to never give up.
More than 9600 Western Australians needed homeless services in the September quarter last year, according to the latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) homelessness report.
Of this 50 per cent were under the age of 25, with numbers in Mandurah reflecting this influx.
Peel Community Kitchen manager Veronique Derschow said the service had been impacted by this influx with about 200 people accessing the service each week.
The new Passages Resource Centre, in partnership with St Vincent de Paul and Rotary Clubs Mandurah and Perth, for homeless or at risk homeless youth aged 12-25, was built to accommodate the need to have services targeting this age group in the area.
Passages Resource Centre co-ordinator Megan Bury said since it opened it has had a steady flow of 8-12 people a day, the majority being 16-21 years old.
She said there was a real limitation for below 25s and services like Passages were working to accommodate this age bracket.
