Latest news with #ErinLongbottom
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Tom's plan was to get a degree in Sydney. It went horribly wrong
After finishing high school, Chinese international student Tom considered university study in the United States. But, after seeing pictures of Australian beaches and the Opera House on social media, he enrolled in a degree in Sydney. He did not realise that, within months of arriving, he would find himself homeless for the first time, trying to sleep in a park underneath the Harbour Bridge. 'I was so tired, but I cannot sleep because I was hungry and freezing,' Tom said. That was in February 2024. After more than a year, he's become accustomed to sleeping in parks. Tom's story is an increasingly common one, according to the city's homelessness services, who say international students are increasingly finding themselves without a place to live. Nurse unit manager at St Vincent's Hospital's homeless health service Erin Longbottom said international students were becoming the hidden face of homelessness. 'No one is talking about it,' she said. They prefer to sleep in well-lit areas, she said, such as train stations or near public libraries. 'We have, at times, a build up of people in car parks where they can charge their electric bikes as that's where they work [doing] food delivery,' she said.
The Age
4 days ago
- Health
- The Age
Tom's plan was to get a degree in Sydney. It went horribly wrong
After finishing high school, Chinese international student Tom considered university study in the United States. But, after seeing pictures of Australian beaches and the Opera House on social media, he enrolled in a degree in Sydney. He did not realise that, within months of arriving, he would find himself homeless for the first time, trying to sleep in a park underneath the Harbour Bridge. 'I was so tired, but I cannot sleep because I was hungry and freezing,' Tom said. That was in February 2024. After more than a year, he's become accustomed to sleeping in parks. Tom's story is an increasingly common one, according to the city's homelessness services, who say international students are increasingly finding themselves without a place to live. Nurse unit manager at St Vincent's Hospital's homeless health service Erin Longbottom said international students were becoming the hidden face of homelessness. 'No one is talking about it,' she said. They prefer to sleep in well-lit areas, she said, such as train stations or near public libraries. 'We have, at times, a build up of people in car parks where they can charge their electric bikes as that's where they work [doing] food delivery,' she said.
