There's nothing quite like coming home at the end of a long day and relaxing in your own lounge room; a bit of peace and quiet.

Home is a great place - 'where the heart is', so they say. And sometimes it feels pretty true.

But have you considered what it would be like not to have a home? Or to be always moving from one place to another, never settling, never making friends in the community?

This is not just sentimental reflection; it is the true experience of many in Sydney - perhaps even living next door to you, for now.

Housing insecurity for African refugees

Anglicare Sydney has just released a new report on the experience of African refugees finding, and keeping appropriate housing. We have particularly looked at the experience of refugees living in Central Western Sydney.

What we discovered was a hidden, suburban suffering.

The families we spoke to had come from countries like Sudan, Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Burundi and had fled war. They had been assessed as refugees by the United Nations and accepted by the Australian Government through its Refugee and Special Humanitarian Programs.

Yet years after settling, they tell us they still feel like refugees. They are not able to secure public housing because there is not enough stock, and are forced into expensive private rentals that are too small, often unsafe and sometimes even decrepit.

These people want to be independent, but because they spend so much of their Government benefits on expensive private rent, they have very limited capacity to get ahead, and off welfare.

And these families can never settle. Every six months or so the lease ends and landlords force them out. Children must leave their local friends, perhaps change schools. Finding stable employment is hard and the stress of culture change is tearing marriages apart.

You can help

So what can you do? A lot, and small things make a big difference.

How about you volunteer with Anglicare's Migrant and Refugee Services, help with reading groups, meet with refugee men who need friends, hold a family lunch at your church. Or just say g'day to a new Australian if you see them in the community.

You can also get in touch with Government. In particular, write to the State and Federal Ministers for Housing and urge them to further increase funding for public and social housing and to strengthen real estate practices for dealing with humanitarian entrants.

As people who love Jesus we want to love our neighbours as ourselves. So be informed, open your eyes and your heart to extend a hand of friendship and advocate for the needs of those who have no place to call home - yet.

Peter Kell is the CEO of Anglicare Sydney