His one-year-old son had been beaten so badly by his ex-partner’s boyfriend he ended up at intensive care at the Royal Children’s Hospital. 

“Seeing him at the hospital, covered in bruises… his tiny little body was black and blue.. it was just gut-wrenching,” he said.

“I felt helpless because I hadn’t been there to protect him.

“I suffered a lot of guilt and anger over it all.” 

He turned to drugs and alcohol to cope.

He overdosed and attempted suicide numerous times. 

He lost his job, his home and his car all within a few months.

“I just wanted to end it all,” he said. “I thought everybody was better off without me.”

Weeks after his son was admitted to hospital, Mr Endlund was at breaking point. 

He clutched a knife in his hands when he called the Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team in Melbourne.

It was a desperate attempt to get locked up by the police.

“I was just crying out for for help,” he said.

“I wanted to be locked up so I had somewhere to sleep. I never would have hurt anyone but I could feel myself falling further and further down.”

That was almost 20 years ago. 

While his son eventually recovered from his injuries, the 59-year-old truck driver never fully recovered from the pain. 

He has struggled with homelessness on and off ever since. 

Last year, he endured another setback when he suffered a perforated bowel leaving him hospitalised for months. 

He lost his job and found himself on the streets again.

“Homelessness is lifestyle that unless you’ve lived it, you will just never know,” he said. “Nobody wants to know you. You’re invisible.”

He said if it wasn’t for the support of his Peplow House case worker Lisa Keddie he would be dead.

“I wouldn’t be here, I truly believe that,” he said. “She saved me. She helped me steer my life back on track.”

He recently moved into a house in Ballarat close to his family and he is slowly rebuilding his life.

“For this first time in my life I feel secure and safe,” he said. “I know there is support there whenever I need it.”

Ms Keddie said drug and alcohol abuse, mental health issues and family breakdowns were the leading causes of homelessness among the more than 150 men who sought refuge at Peplow House every year.

Peplow House is the only crisis support and accommodation centre in Victoria, which provided men with  specialised case management.

“It’s about treating them as people and getting to the bottom of the issues causing the homelessness,” she said. 

But Ms Keddie said there was a dire need for more beds and housing.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Meals programs for Ballarat’s homelessness are struggling to keep pace with the city’s soaring demand.

UnitingCare manager of housing and crisis support Wendy Ferguson said on any given day, the organisation’s BreezeWay meals program can feed more than 70 people.

The program provides a hot and nutritious two-course midday meal every day of the year for people who are marginalised, bereft, homeless or living in insecure accommodation. 

Hidden away between the Uniting Church and the Wesleyan Hall, the highly-successful program has been feeding the city’s most vulnerable since 1998. 

It is entirely run by volunteers and supported by donations from the public and trusts. 

It receives no government or council funding.

“On any given day, the number of people in need of meals can jump significantly,” Ms Ferguson said.

“Volunteers could get an influx of people just after quarter to one and they will be madly putting meals in the oven to serve.”

“The idea is that nobody is ever be turned away or not given a hot meal.”  

Ms Fegurson said the meals program also provides a rare window of opportunity for support workers to connect with those living on outskirts of society.

“Sometimes people don’t feel comfortable about coming into UnitingCare and asking for help,” she said. 

“They might feel shame about reaching out or they may have had a bad experience when they have previously asked for help.

“We try and tap in with them in an environment where they feel comfortable and safe.” 

Each week a Ballarat nurse, Centacare welfare workers and Centrelink service providers will attended the program assessing and counselling clients on a no-name, no-fee basis.

Soon, a specialised outreach worker will join them in a bid to rescue those who are sleeping on the city’s streets.

“We have employed a outreach worker who is going to start directly targeting rough sleepers,” she said.

“Their job will be to work with those who are homeless and sleeping on the street to find them a home.”

Up to 400 people are sleeping in insecure crisis accommodation and more than 70 families waiting for housing each day. The statistics paint a harrowing picture of Ballarat’s growing scourge of homelessness. 

UnitingCare chief executive Carolyn Barrie said soaring rates of family violence, unemployment, drug use, alcoholism, a dire housing shortage and lack of access to crisis accommodation were all contributing factors. 

One in four people reaching out for help are under the age 25.

Homelessness is one of the most profound social and economic challenges Ballarat faces.

According to social welfare a the key reasons people spiral into poverty are due to trauma, family violence, job loss, sexual abuse, loss of a partner, mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse. 

On any given night, 75 people in Ballarat find themselves homeless.

While finding secure housing is a major step towards rebuilding lives, experts say, without addressing the core causes of homelessness the risk of the cycle repeating always lingers.

More than 100 people gathered at Ballarat’s Housey Housey on Thursday to discuss ideas on how to curb homelessness at a landmark Think Tank this week. 

Ideas to curb the scourge of homelessness ranged from creating a Central Business District outreach centre which provided one-stop-shop for education and upskilling programs, rehabilitation, health and mental well-being support and gateway to housing.

Other ideas touted included building a therapy and community garden. 

UnitingCare chief executive Carolyn Barrie said ideas canvassed covered all quadrants of the social dynamics including health and well-being, the need for more housing and empowerment through education and employment.

“If you just provide a house for somebody, their problems are not just going to go away,” she said. “ It’s about creating a sense of belonging. We’re looking for those real solutions that we can actually implement, that are sustainable and will make difference to peoples’ lives by creating solutions which reduces homelessness.” 

Next month, ideas generated through the Think Tank will be pitched to the homeless sector, community leaders, businesses and government entities to potentially develop and implement.