THE number of homeless youths sleeping rough in the bush around Bega varies with the season, South East Women and Children’s Services (SEWACS) says.

Kylie Furnell, case worker for youth homelessness at SEWACS, said during winter people are more likely to put up with various household situations for longer, while they are more likely to move out and camp in summer.

She said they often stay within walking distance to transport and facilities or free camping grounds, just places where they cannot be harassed. 

Some of these youths come from the Bega Valley and some are passing through.

Ms Furnell said even with assistance from services utilising all housing assistance avenues to work on a person’s homelessness issues, a person may have little option but to camp out while waiting for approval for private rentals, refuge vacancies, or to access public transport to travel to one. 

However, Ms Furnell said camping was a rarer form of youth homelessness than couch surfing, which was “massive” in the Valley.

Couch surfing was an expensive option, she said, as youths staying on a friend’s couch might be expected to help out by purchasing groceries and they can often spend more than what they would if they had their own home. 

A lot of couch surfing is a result of the breakdown in family relationships, Ms Furnell said.

She said SEWACS staff keep tents and mattresses in the back of their cars so they can give them to people when they need to. 

“Sometimes when all you can offer is a tent, it is pretty devastating,” she said. 

SEWACS works closely with local charities to access crisis support, such as food and shower facilities as needed in these situations. 

Ms Furnell has developed a free mobile phone app on living skills to assist people with homelessness called “SkillBot”.

It can be downloaded from app stores.