Richie was bloody and bruised when he met Sacha from Social Futures Tweed Assertive Outreach Program along with a colleague from DCJ early one morning in a small town near Tweed Heads.
“I had nothing but the shorts I was wearing, my things had been stolen. I had been beaten up – I had a broken jaw, blood all over my face,” said Richie.
It was a far cry from the life he once knew. Richie grew up in North Narrabeen where he trained and worked as a butcher’s supplier before moving to the Central Coast to become franchise manager for Optus. It was here that he met his wife and had two children.
When his relationship broke down about ten years ago Ritchie moved to Northern NSW where he met and lived with a new partner. It was around this time that he had his first epileptic seizure. Sadly, that relationship also broke down leaving Richie on the streets.
It was when he was homeless that he developed Guillain-Barré Syndrome – a rare disorder where your body’s immune system attacks your nerves. What begins as weakness or tingling in fingers and feet quickly spreads and eventually paralyses the whole body.
Richie found himself paralysed from the mouth down and being fed through a tube in a hospital bed for more than a year. His body under stress, his heart stopped twice during this time – “that can be a little scary,” he says.
Slowly he improved, underwent 6 months of rehab and learned to walk and to talk again.
“My inspiration to continue on was just pure determination. I’m pretty stubborn and determined. They told me I’d never walk again… I said, ‘watch me!’”
Once released from hospital Richie was back to being homeless and for more than 10 years he slept on the streets, in parks, wherever he could find.
“I was absolutely scared to death” he said. “Always looking over my shoulder, worried what was going to happen next. Slowly but surely everything I owned got stolen from me – because you’re on the street, no-one cares. I had the life beaten out of me. All sorts of things happened on the street, believe me. It was an extremely frightening, horrible way to live,” said Richie.
Social Futures Tweed Assertive Outreach Program works to support long term homeless people who are sleeping rough into housing and onto a brighter future. It is a service desperately needed in the Northern Rivers.
The 2024 Street Count revealed the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales is home to more people sleeping rough (652) than Greater Sydney (574) with Byron Bay home to 348 people and just up the road, Tweed Heads with 174¹.
The rental market has never been less affordable and vacancy rates are at an all-time low according to the Anglicare Rental Snapshot². The number of people seeking priority housing, because they are at risk of homelessness increased by well over 100 per cent across the Northern Rivers.³
The Ballina region has seen a 190 per cent increase in the number of people seeking priority social housing with Tweed Heads jumping by 142 per cent and Byron Bay by 129 per cent.
“When I first met Sacha, I was thinking – these guys aren’t gonna help. It’s just another community department that’s going to throw something at you then leave you alone,” Ritchie said.
“The more I dealt with them, especially with Sacha, the more help I was offered and given. Sacha stayed in contact, he helped me achieve things, get clothing, get a phone, he helped me find myself and remove myself from alcohol abuse.”
“Whenever something went wrong, I would ring Sacha. He was my contact, and an absolute gem.”
Ritchie stayed in the Assertive Outreach program and eventually secured permanent social housing, where he now lives. Assertive Outreach also helped him furnish his unit.
“There was always follow though by Social Futures, nothing was left behind, and they were so decent about it. Through their help and everything they did for me was how I was able to finally get permanent housing which I absolutely adore.”
When asked what he loves most about his home, Richie glows and says, “The stability, the comfort – it’s my place, it’s comfortable, it’s clean, it’s neat, it’s tidy. I’ve got good people around me, and it’s made life so much more comfortable, I can’t ask for anything more.”
Ritchie was accepted onto the NDIS about 12 months ago – “a game changer” he says. He has two support workers who take him shopping and fishing. He recently acquired a falls alarm which is essential for someone with epilepsy, and he also now has a laptop which he intends to put to good use by studying marketing online later this year.
Ritchie is again in contact with his adult children, and his two grandchildren.
Social Futures Assertive Outreach Team works on the ground with people sleeping rough in the Tweed Heads and Byron Bay areas. Our team works collaboratively with other Specialist Homelessness Services, NSW Department of Communities and Justice and NSW Health.
NOTE: If you are experiencing homelessness and need emergency accommodation please call Link2Home 1800 152 152 or follow this link to a range of 24 hour emergency contacts.
References
³ The Community Housing Industry Association NSW (CHIA NSW). https://www.echo.net.au/2024/06/housing-waiting-lists-jump-over-100-per-cent-for-northern-rivers/
