WA Alliance to End Homelessness Executive Officer David Pearson spoke to 6PR Mornings presenter Gary Adshead about how WA communities are using a By Name list to accurately track homelessness.

It all sounds like it's impossible. So, let's ask David Pearson joins me the line thanks for your time. No thanks, having to go, it seems like a very bold statement a summit to end homelessness I've no idea to end homelessness, surely it can't be done. Well, the funny thing about it is I totally agree. It sounds like this crazy bold thing but the reality is we are actually out there, ending homelessness individuals every day right so the services that are providing support, helping people. Homelessness but the challenge of actually ending homelessness for a community is actually just as achievable. And the reason we know that is because there are now 17 18 communities around the world that have done that and what it means is it's not that no-one is ever homeless again. It means they were able to make the experience of homeless is rare, so there's very little of it brief so that if someone does have an experience of

homeless is were able to rapidly rehoused them and a one-time thing they're not cycling in and out of homelessness to know is there is a big problem always just a couple of things n in Western Australia. We often talk about the shortage of social and affordable housing. So where do, where do we go to house them. If you're talking about if you had every tool you need it tomorrow. You could do it by what finding property for them to be in awe or certain places that they can go to that has all the needs for yeah I think it's important to distinguish between the different types of homelessness that may need different types of responses right that at a broad level, you're absolutely right. there is a lack of affordable housing is and there's a rental affordability crisis home-ownership crisis there's a lack of available social public housing, so we need to solve all of those problems and there is a sort of crisis of people that are literally sleeping and dying on the street. Communities across Western Australia and

the thing about that last group is it actually more expensive to leave those people cycling in and out of homelessness at Negre massive health problems that are costing us is as a community, a fortune of those people cycling in and out of prison hospitals crisis accommodation and we would just to provide permanent housing and support they need. that would save money and reduce deaths and there's a sort of positive that we had in WA last week the Minister announced 100 homes and 100 doesn't sound very much, but it's 100 homes targeted at that group of people that we know it's actually $13,000 a year cheaper to provide them the housing and support they need, than it is to leave them, you know, cycling in and out of home was. I know that one of the notions of all of this is you know to end homelessness, you first have to see it.

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