Staff of the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages have taken part in an ID Clinic to assist housing applications, issuing 100 birth certificates to people who had lost their documents through homelessness.
Among those receiving the valuable documents were Noongar couple, Shane and Cherylene.
“Now that we have our ID, we can apply for housing, get a tax file number and even re-start our cleaning business,” Shane said.
“A while back, Cherylene and I did a Cert I in New Small Business and had a cleaning operation going, but we’ve been homeless on and off for seven years, living in cars, friends’ and relatives’ houses and on the streets.”
He said the pair wanted to get a place to live and start cleaning for mining companies in the south-west.
The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages held the ID Clinic during Homelessness Week, helping people obtain birth certificates and apply for priority listing with the Housing Authority.
Manager of Marriage Services at the Registry, Cherena Thompson (pictured) said the day was a big success.
“We issued approximately 100 certificates to clients from Ruah Community Services, and from supported accommodation places, St Bartholomews House and Tranby House,” Ms Thompson said.
“It was an absolute pleasure to help those in genuine need and to know that our participation in events such as these will assist in getting them back on their feet.”
She said that while the events which had led to the current circumstances of participants were not known, their positive attitude and outlook on life was something all could learn from.
