In June, Dale Foster sat in the Mercury office unemployed but optimistic about his chances of finding work. Two months later, Dale has been evicted from his Maitland home, he has no car and he’s fled to Sydney’s Central Station to join the legion of homeless. Dale is the human face of the Hunter’s high unemployment rate.
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In the space of two months Dale Foster went from his cosy house in Gillieston Heights to sleeping rough on a train station floor.
Unemployed, homeless and with no one to turn to, Mr Foster caught the train to Sydney to join the masses of displaced people.
The 25-year-old man appeared in the Mercury in June to appeal to employers to give him a go after five months without a job.
Despite his eagerness to get back into the workforce, Mr Foster did not pick up any work.
“I didn’t get one phone call,” he said.
“I kept applying for jobs. I sold my car to try to cover my expenses.
“I even gave my furniture away.”
Two weeks ago he was evicted from his home and left with nowhere to go.
All of the crisis accommodation and emergency housing services in Maitland were full and Mr Foster was left with a tough choice.
“I knew from passing through Sydney that there were a lot of homeless people,” he said.
“I thought it was the best place to go.
“My first night there I slept on Bondi Beach.”
Now Mr Foster is one of the many homeless people who call Central Station home.
He relies on food vans and vouchers for meals, but sometimes does not eat at all.
“A lot of people here sit and drink or take drugs so I try to keep to myself,” he said.
“I sleep with my shoes on, so no one takes them.”
He is on the waiting list for housing and for financial assistance, but the wait can be long.
Mr Foster has fallen into a social services gap.
“The reality is there is not enough availability of services for people in crisis, it astounds me,” he said.
“I have never been homeless before, it just makes me think, ‘Where did I go wrong? Where did I fail?’”
Maitland City councillor Philip Penfold is part of the Hunter Valley Men’s Crisis Support Inc and said many people like Mr Foster have to relocate to try to access social services.
“The current situation is that the bigger the city you are in the more services are available,” Cr Penfold said.
“People come from smaller places to Maitland and we have reached a point where we don’t have anymore services to offer.
“It is putting a strain on all charities and organisations.”
Cr Penfold said many of the people considered homeless in the Hunter go unseen because they stay with friends and family, or in their cars.
“The lists are long,” he said.
“All people can do is continue to make the effort to contact local agencies.”
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