Homeless services are buckling under pressure to counter Queensland's spiralling housing crisis, with some fearing they won't last out the year.
The number of people homeless in the Sunshine State has jumped 22 per cent in the past five years, according to a report released this week.
That's almost three times the national increase.
Goodna Street Life, west of Brisbane, has put on extra staff and services to field the "countless" calls for help they get every day.
But it has left their margin razor thin.
"It's devastating, the situation right now is dire," vice president Steve Purcell said.
"Those calls, they don't stop coming and they're coming in at the moment at an alarming frequency and it's just getting worse and worse and worse."
He said the service, which has run for eight years, may not survive this one.
"Our payroll has increased significantly, but we don't get any funding, so that's been a huge burden for us to try and manage," Mr Purcell said.
"We're at risk of closing down."
Without the service Kevin, 37, would be "stuck on the street".
"I've just come out of a job at the moment and even just trying to get on Centrelink is a struggle, without the right paperwork. Then I went to a job network today but they wouldn't take me on because I'm not on Centrelink.
"Without money, without internet access, without access to your birth certificate, it's hard."
A report by the Queensland Council of Social Services and The Town of Nowhere campaign forecasts more than 220,000 households in Queensland won't have affordable housing within 20 years.
Mr Purcell said the charity was bearing the brunt of increasing costs.
"The government will give me money to buy a piece of equipment or to start a project to help put funding into a traineeship," he said.
"We're there to fund the bureaucracy. They won't give me money to pay for the electricity to keep the lights on in the homeless shelter.
"They won't give me money to pay wages for counsellors so I can provide that support to help people overcome these problems."
More people in need
St Vincent de Paul chief executive Kevin Mercer said the number of people coming to them has skyrocketed.
Typically they get 200,000 requests for help a year — this financial year, it's already at 215,000.
"Every day our members are out in the community supporting the most vulnerable Queenslanders and they're seeing increases of 20 to 30 per cent, depending on different parts in Queensland, in the number of people that are coming forward for assistance," he said.
'It can get worse and it probably will'
Paul Tommasini, chief executive of InCommunity in Ipswich south-west of Brisbane, said the biggest problem was the undersupply of housing.
"We're in extreme housing tightness all around the state and that then leads to putting an extra pressure on services, because even if we can provide support to people, the exit points are really difficult for us.," he said.
Mr Mercer agreed.
"The issue is that it can get worse and it probably will until we can get housing stock built on the ground," he said.
"We've got to make sure social support and income support mechanisms are at the right level to sustain people with the increased cost of living and get all those settings and safety nets right, so that we can sustain people through this period of time until we get to the point where we've developed more housing stock for people to live in."
For Kevin, Goodna Street Life has given him a sense of hope.
"I have a place, I've got somewhere to go to, where people are willing to help me, without them I'd be very lost.
"I'm looking forward to getting a job again and starting work.
"But I just take it a day at a time."
