{"id":862275,"date":"2026-08-20T18:06:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T18:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/862275\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T18:06:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T18:06:29","slug":"out-of-control-cost-of-living-pressures-driving-demand-for-food-housing-charities-in-regions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/862275\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Out of control’ cost-of-living pressures driving demand for food, housing charities in regions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rosslynne Crawford is sleeping under “the peppercorn tree”, as she likes to call it.<\/p>\n

The 38-year-old Barkindji woman and Broken Hill local estimates that she has spent around three years on a waiting list for a house.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to be a burden to anyone, and I prefer being on my own anyway,” Ms Crawford said.<\/p>\n

She is among those who have turned to the local food charity, Feeding Friends, for not just a warm meal but also support.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Don Barron from food charity Feeding Friends says there has been an increased need for his service. (ABC Broken Hill: Kristina Rosengren)<\/p>\n

Every night at Kintore Reserve, the charity serves meals to anyone who needs a helping hand.<\/p>\n

It has grown in recent years, with local businesses donating food every week.<\/p>\n

Ms Crawford said the meals were good, but she also appreciated the opportunity for social connection.<\/p>\n

“Feeding Friends helps a lot, saves me from cooking and [building a] fire,” Ms Crawford said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Dave Meadows, a self-described barbecue enthusiast, has been serving up home-cooked meals to those doing it tough. (ABC Broken Hill: Bill Ormonde)<\/p>\n

“Also [to] get out and actually speak to people as well.<\/p>\n

“I like it because it keeps my mind entertained and occupied, really, away from those distractions, what I had in my past.”<\/p>\n

Homelessness on the rise<\/p>\n

The demand for homelessness services in Broken Hill in far-west New South Wales has been steadily increasing over the past few years.<\/p>\n

The local St Vincent de Paul Society has seen a 48 per cent jump in requests for assistance since 2022\/23.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Dave Meadows and his family have served more than a thousand meals during their cross-country tour. (ABC Broken Hill: Kristina Rosengren)<\/p>\n

The organisation said more than one in four people seeking assistance were experiencing homelessness or were in temporary accommodation, while more than two in five were facing housing stress.<\/p>\n

The issue is pronounced throughout regional Australia, with new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealing regional Australians are facing a homelessness crisis at more than three times the rate of those in major cities.<\/p>\n

Head of Feeding Friends Don Barron said it was a trend he had witnessed firsthand.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Feeding Friends’ Don Barron has been running the food charity in Broken Hill for five years. (ABC Broken Hill: Bill Ormonde)<\/p>\n

“[The need] has certainly grown in the way of young families,” Mr Barron said.<\/p>\n

“We have homeless people in Broken Hill who do have children; they still go to school, but they’re living in cars.<\/p>\n

“A lack of housing, money, affordability, the cost of living has just gone out of control at the moment.”More people in search of a meal<\/p>\n

Dave Meadows is not a chef by trade, but for the past three years he has been serving low-cost and slow-cooked barbecue meals to those experiencing homelessness at an annual event in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

Each year he had seen the number of people turning up grow.<\/p>\n

“Our numbers in Adelaide are just going up and up,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dave Meadows says he wanted to inspire people to get involved in charities in their local communities. (ABC Broken Hill: Kristina Rosengren)<\/p>\n

“We’ve come across people who have had rentals, who had homes, and their rent has gone up to a point where they can’t afford to live there.<\/p>\n

“They can’t afford to rent anywhere, and they’re sleeping rough.”<\/p>\n

It was this crisis that gave him the idea to take his barbecue event on the road, to share meals with those experiencing hardship across Australia.<\/p>\n

“I figured if this is what’s happening in Adelaide, it must be happening everywhere.”<\/p>\n

With his family in tow, they devised a plan to deliver warm feeds to 18 locations across South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dave Meadows’ barbecue meals take six to eight hours to slow cook. (ABC Broken Hill: Kristina Rosengren)<\/p>\n

In each location, the Smoke and Soul project partners with a local charity to coordinate the service and better understand local needs.<\/p>\n

“Usually, people who are doing it hard only often receive pretty simple food like soup and sandwiches,” Mr Meadows said.<\/p>\n

“That’s largely due to the charities \u2026 [which] are also quite underfunded.<\/p>\n

“[But] it’s my aim to give people who are sleeping rough, who are doing it hard, a food experience.<\/p>\n

“People just really appreciate the effort and time that’s involved in American-style barbecue.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dave Meadows has been travelling with his wife, Cara, and their two daughters, delivering meals to those experiencing homelessness. (ABC Broken Hill: Kristina Rosengren)<\/p>\n

The Meadows family launched a fundraiser to deliver the service and packed up a trailer with smokers and barbecues.<\/p>\n

It was important that nine-year-old Charlotte and five-year-old Sofia were brought along for the ride and were involved in the project too.<\/p>\n

“I wanted my girls to understand the importance of helping others,” Mr Meadows said.<\/p>\n

“Especially my eldest, she’s really flourished over this whole time, her confidence has gone up, and she gets really excited about helping others.”<\/p>\n

The couple hopes Smoke and Soul also encouraged more community members to volunteer.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Sofia (left) and Charlotte Meadows (right) with Hazel Barron (middle) help out at the food charities their parents run. (ABC Broken Hill: Kristina Rosengren\u00a0)<\/p>\n

“We just really wanted to inspire people in their local town to hold up their hand and help out,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Something that we’ve found is these charities that we are partnered with are always looking for help.”<\/p>\n

After 59 days on the road, the family returned to Adelaide in mid-August after serving around 1,350 meals.<\/p>\n

The unspent $10,552 they raised will be donated back to the charities they partnered with along the way.<\/p>\n

“What we’re doing is sharing hope and happiness and showing people who are doing it tough out there that there are other people out there who care,” Mr Meadows said.<\/p>\n

More news from Broken Hill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rosslynne Crawford is sleeping under “the peppercorn tree”, as she likes to call it. The 38-year-old Barkindji woman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,432002,54886,99,2610,432005,432003,199356,7694,41598,432001,432004],"class_list":["post-862275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bbq-for-the-homeless","tag-broken-hill","tag-business","tag-cost-of-living","tag-donated-meals","tag-feeding-friends","tag-food-charity","tag-homelessness","tag-sleeping-rough","tag-smoke-and-soul-project","tag-working-poor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}