National Homeless Day 10 October 2021

More than 60 people sleeping rough on the Central Coast have been supported into accommodation by Coast and Country Primary Care’s (CCPC) Health on the Streets (HoTS) team.

Sunday 10 October 2021, CCPC acknowledges World Homeless Day which aims to bring attention to people who experience homelessness, celebrate the good work happening locally, and educate the community about homeless issues.

HoTS is a mobile health clinic for people experiencing homelessness, taking healthcare and support services to rough sleepers experiencing homelessness across the Central Coast.

“Our HoTS Team have continued to provide this service to our community through the current health pandemic to some of our most vulnerable community members,” said CCPC Chief Executive, Kathy Beverley.

“Over the past twelve months our outreach workers have assisted 30 people to be permanently housed, with an additional 33 people assisted to attain various temporary accommodation options,” she said.

“A major part of our service involves building rapport and trust with our clients, which allows us to then make referrals to appropriate programs and services.”

Regular Hubs are held at Mary Macs Place, Woy Woy every Monday from 10am- 1pm, and every Thursday at Coast Shelter, Gosford every Thursday from 10am- 1pm.

On other days our Team provides assertive outreach across the Central Coast, responding to referrals from various community organisations, businesses, and community members.

Our Registered Nurses provide comprehensive health assessments including:

• Primary Health
• Public/Sexual Health
• Mental Health
• Drug & Alcohol

The past 12 months has seen our Outreach Workers provide over 550 interactions with clients, with our Registered Nurses having provided over 1200 clinical interventions. This has included assisting 21 people to receive their COVID vaccinations over the last three months, with our Nurses also detecting five positive COVID cases in our community through opportunistic testing from our HoTS Van.

Federal Liberal Member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks MP said she is proud to be part of a Government that is supporting people who experience homelessness, with a $945,000 in funding for the HoTS program.

“HoTS make a real difference in the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our community. I cannot commend this team enough for their hard work and dedication.

For more information visit www.ccpc.com.au or call us on (02) 4365 2294