PEOPLE experiencing homelessness can connect to support services and attend health appointments thanks to a program based at Bendigo Library.<\/p>\n
The Bendigo Community Health Services InRoads program aims to help disadvantaged people get access to essential healthcare.<\/p>\n
The program was recently outlined at the 2026 Alliance of Rural and Regional Community Health (ARRCH) conference in Ballarat as an example of community health programs making a difference in communities.<\/p>\n
More than 70 people were supported by the program over the past year across more than 1000 hours of direct assistance.<\/p>\n
The 2021 Census found a 94 per cent increase in homelessness in the region since the 2016 Census, four times the State average.<\/p>\n
Bendigo Community Health Services’ health access senior leader Clare Woods told the conference that many homeless people visited the library.<\/p>\n
“People from all walks of life are accessing the library for a whole range of reasons, including our clients, so it’s the ideal place to meet them,” Ms Woods said.<\/p>\n
“Some are living with complex trauma histories and health conditions that the standard health system has not been designed to address in a sustained integrated way.<\/p>\n
“Embedding just one person in the local library opened a network of cross-sector relationships that we couldn’t have engineered within our walls.”<\/p>\n
Ms Woods said that basing a community connector at the library reduced a power imbalance.<\/p>\n
“The library is a neutral place that is non-clinical,” she said. “There is no triage or reception desk.”<\/p>\n
She said homeless people often have high levels of chronic disease and need medication and access to regular care, but more than half the people reached hadn’t received care for at least five years.<\/p>\n
The program was shifting internal support from the “too-hard basket”, she said, towards opening multidisciplinary pathways.<\/p>\n
“The role of the Community Connector as a navigator, connector and coordination point for the patient and clinician changes access in a very real way for everyone,” Ms Woods said.<\/p>\n
“Due to the daily impact of homelessness, many find themselves unable to gain or sustain access to the services they need.<\/p>\n
“Creating a trauma-informed system allows space for opportunistic care and flexibility.<\/p>\n
“The program acknowledges that life is messy but that shouldn’t impact our ability to access basic healthcare.”<\/p>\n
Work is underway to get further program funding so it can continue beyond the current model expiring this winter.<\/p>\n
“This program is a wonderful example of diverse organisations working together towards shared goals \u2013 in this case Bendigo Community Health Services, City of Greater Bendigo and Goldfields Libraries,” Ms Woods said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PEOPLE experiencing homelessness can connect to support services and attend health appointments thanks to a program based at Bendigo Library. The Bendigo Community Health Services InRoads program aims to help disadvantaged people get access to essential healthcare. The program was recently outlined at the 2026 Alliance of Rural and Regional Community Health (ARRCH) conference in […]<\/p>\n