A homeless man who was living in a tent in Adelaide’s northeast will soon have a place to call his own after five years.
Peter Woodforde, affectionately known as Woody, was living under a gazebo behind the Salvation Army in Modbury for the last 18 months but was recently told he would have to move because of complaints from residents living nearby.
Woody was homeless for several years before that and was constantly having to relocate because of a lack of adequate places for rough sleepers to camp.
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The 58-year-old inspected and accepted his first home in five years on Monday, offered to him with the support of AnglicareSA.
Woody said his 15-year-old daughter was ecstatic her dad finally had a roof over his head and she is ready to help him decorate it.
“My daughter especially is over the moon about it because she’s always been so worried about me,” he said.
“She likes to put things here and there. She’s going to totally set it up for dad.”
A local basketball club donated household items such as a quilt, pillows and clothes for Woody to move in with.
While Woody’s children knew he was homeless, they weren’t aware he was living in a tent in the middle of winter when Adelaide temperatures have been near-freezing at night.
A homeless man died about a week ago after being found sleeping in his car outside a men’s shelter in Adelaide when temperatures were as low as 3C.
The Adelaide housing and cost-of-living crisis has meant charity Hutt St Centre has seen a 25 per cent increase week-on-week of people experiencing homeless.
Shelters across the city have been forced to turn away new clients because they were full.
Woody previously told 7NEWS.com.au he didn’t want his children to see his current living condition, living under gazebo because it would hurt them.
Woody said he still could not believe his life was about to get so much easier.
“Until you actually move in, you don’t really believe it,” he said.
“Having all these sorts of things, you can have a shower when you want, cook, you can have everything at your fingertips, is just going to be such a blessing.
“You forget how much work you have to do just to get basic meals done, self-clean, washing your clothes when living rough,” Woody said.
Woody hopes to continue advocacy for homeless people in Adelaide and is pushing for stable places for people to camp when they cannot get social housing because of a wait of up to 18 months for category one clients.
Woody is also hoping a charity will partner with him to work on his business idea to purchase caravans for the homeless.