'We need somewhere to go, legally': Abigail offers her voice to help fellow homeless people
Abigail: “We need somewhere to go, and legally, so that the police don’t have to move us on wherever we go”.
A Nambour homeless woman is organising a fundraiser and public awareness campaign to help her fellow rough sleepers.
Abigail, who became homeless three years ago when Covid hit, said her broad goals were to obtain locations for homeless people to reside without fear of being moved-on and to get addicts into effective rehabilitation.
“The homeless people are like my family, they’re like my extended family. And look, we don’t always get on,” she laughed. “But we want to be part of the solution.
“A lot has been said about the homeless situation in Nambour and we wish to find a way forward with the Council and community’s help. We need somewhere to go, and legally, so that the police don’t have to move us on wherever we go. And this is where the Council needs to step up and provide legal spaces where we can stay, shower and toilet.
“At the moment we just hide in the bush. We just hide away and it’s like ... I’ve been hiding for three years. I’m tired of hiding.”
Abigail said there were measures that could be relatively easily implemented and also have a disproportionally large positive effect on the homeless population.
“I have a list but we basically need areas to sleep. It doesn’t have to be built accommodation. But you can’t put us all in one big space because we’re pretty dysfunctional so that wouldn’t work. The places need to be free, easy to access and where we are not going to be moved on. We need toilets, hot showers and bins.”
On a more personal level, Abigail wants to raise money to fund month-long private rehabilitations for local addicts who desperately want to recover.
“Julie (not her real name) has been on the street for 25 years in Nambour and is desperate at the moment to get into rehab,” said Abigail.
“Julie is absolutely desperate because her friend died (possibly of an overdose) a few days before Christmas and she’s like, ‘don’t give up on me, please don’t give up on me’ and I said ‘I won’t give up on you, never’. She doesn’t want be the next.
“I find it interesting because when the police come down and talk to her, they’re also like, ‘we don’t want you to be the next’. The police love her.
“I would like her to go to rehab because the detox facility in Brisbane – you go for a week and then – unless you have a rehabilitation facility to then go to you get popped back out on the street. She’s already done that before. I would really like her to have some of the private rehab facilities for a whole month and fully detox.
“We’ve got a beautiful community. There’s so many that do so many kind things. But the homeless don’t have a voice. Now, I didn’t want to be that voice. I certainly don’t want to be the organizer. I don’t wanna be a leader.
“But I know that if I don’t advocate for them, they’re gonna get squished. They’re gonna get charged, they’re gonna get fined. They’re gonna get pushed to wherever to hide in the bush. And then it will be a few months where everything dies down, and they’ll come back again. It’s just, that’s not a way, this is not a solution. So let’s be a solution. What are the solutions to help them when they need it? If they want help, let’s help them. They wanna get into rehab, let’s make it happen.”
You can give to Abigail’s fundraiser at www.gofund.me/ede312cf. The price of private rehabilitation at the Gunnebah Addiction Retreat is $13,500 for 30 days (and $450/day for each day thereafter). See www.gunnebah.com.au/cost/.
Abigail was going to approach the Nambour Magistrates Court on Monday (February 13) for permission to hold a public assembly at a date to be confirmed.