By Charlene Macaulay and Alesha Capone
A homeless man who had the car he was sleeping in taken off the road has scored a helping hand from Good Samaritans.
Lawrence Willis has been living in his Toyota for more than two years after he became a victim of family violence and relies heavily on the generosity of the Wyndham City Salvation Army to get by.
Last month, his living situation became even more precarious when Mr Willis’ car was broken into and his phone and licence plates were stolen.
Shortly after, he was pulled up by police for driving an unroadworthy car and given a week to fix the car – but Mr Willis didn’t have the means to get the car up to scratch.
In stepped Good Samaritans Trevor Baker and Colin Hancock, who bought Mr Willis a station wagon for $600 and fixed it up so he could sleep in it. Earle and Jill Motors in Werribee helped to fix up the car at a discounted price, and a local hardware store supplied materials so the pair could build a makeshift bed.
Mr Hancock, who also lives in his car, said he understood the pressure faced by Mr Willis: “Homeless people with their cars – they don’t have the money to maintain them.
“You either spend money on the car or spend money on food.”
Mr Willis said he was eternally grateful to both men for helping.
“You can’t imagine what it feels like to have people go out of their way to help you out.”
The emergence of Mr Willis’ plight followed the release of a new report which found about 32,600 Wyndham residents live in poverty.
The Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) and economic modelling firm NATSEM’s Every Suburb, Every Town report stated that 17 per cent of Wyndham’s residents are living on or below the poverty line (the report defined the poverty line as living on $353.45 per week).
VCOSS chief executive Emma King described Melbourne’s outer western, northern and south-eastern suburbs – Wyndham, Melton, Casey, Hume and Cardinia – as the “face of poverty”.
“Poverty is everywhere, and looks different everywhere,” she said.
Out of the thousands of Wyndham residents living in poverty, the report stated that 68 per cent have dependent children and 62 per cent either own their home or are paying a mortgage.
Fifty-eight per cent of Wyndham’s poor are women, 25 per cent are employed full-time or part-time and 23 per cent are people with a disability.
Ms King said almost a third of Victorians living in poverty had a job.
“They just can’t get enough hours or are paid too little to make ends meet,” Ms King said.
A suburb-by-suburb breakdown of the VCOSS figures showed that about 7700 Werribee residents were living in poverty. In addition, 5200 Point Cook residents were living in poverty, as were 4800 Hoppers Crossing residents, 4300 Tarneit residents, 3200 Truganina residents and 3200 Wyndham Vale residents.
The Hume municipality, which includes Broadmeadows and Sunbury, has the highest number of people living in poverty in the state (38,500 residents), according to the report.
Ms King said all levels of government needed to work together to combat poverty.
