Cash boost lifts housing for homeless opportunity

CENTACARE’S Mitchell Park facility is getting a major bump in capacity following the announcement of State government money for nine new housing units.

The Learmonth Road site is used by the welfare and social service as a place for people experiencing homelessness challenges, and the $2 million grant will boost the organisation’s capacity across the city.

Centacare CEO said Tony Fitzgerald said the new units would go along way to helping some of the region’s most vulnerable people, now and into the future.

“It’s a valuable contribution,” he said. “It’ll be a great benefit to have nine extra units to put people into that ordinarily would be homeless or in insecure accommodation.

“There’s a chronic shortage of social, affordable housing stock priced for people who are in the lowest level of income. We find people come into these types of places and then get themselves stabilised and can move onto the private rental market.”

Currently Centacare looks after 69 houses and units across the city, including the Mitchell Park location, where there are 29 homes in a converted motel.

Mr Fitzgerald said the ability to access affordable housing could be life changing for people doing it tough.

“One of the key platforms to emotional wellbeing for any individual is having a roof over your head, and that’s what we provide here as an important first step in getting yourself set up” he said.

Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison said stable accommodation was a key element to lifting people up and keeping them out of poverty.

“We know that housing insecurity and homelessness is just one piece of the puzzle that prevents people from holding down a job to having positive relationships,” she said.

“This is a part of saying to people that we believe in you, we want you to be the best version of you, and by providing secure housing we can then set up a framework where people can get their lives back on track.”

With approvals and permits already confirmed, work on the nine units is expected to start in the near future, with a preferred, local, builder expected to be announced soon.

The $2 million for Centacare was part of a wider announcement that included 780 new homes across the state with the money coming from the Social Housing Growth Fund.

“Centacare has a proven track record in Ballarat for being an important provider in the community,” Ms Addison said. “We’ve seen their success and we want to see more of that.”