Fresh approach to homelessnessclears path for lasting solutions

Wesley Mission is pleased that it will be able to expand its homeless services particularly to families and young people under the NSW Government’s new homelessness reform package.

 

The Going Home, Staying Home initiative will also see Wesley Mission continuing to provide vital inner-city homeless services – a work it has been doing for more than 120 years.

 

“The Going Home, Staying Home reforms have not only maintained services for crisis accommodation but addressed the need for prevention,” the CEO of Wesley Mission the Rev Dr Keith Garner said.

 

“It is a sad fact that almost one third of homeless Australians who receive support are homeless families – and that number is expected to grow in the coming years unless there is greater early intervention.”

 

More than 17 per cent of Australia’s homeless are now under the age of 12.

 

“Wesley Mission research has found that early exposure to homelessness and the resulting cycle of homelessness has meant significant long-term mental and health problems and greater costs to the community through substance abuse, family breakdown and poor employment prospects,” Dr Garner said.

 

“The new reforms will mean a more integrated approach and an opportunity to break the cycle of inter-generational homelessness.”

 

Dr Garner said he was also pleased to see more funding directed to suburban and regional areas.

 

“A Wesley Report on inner-city homelessness found that more than 70 per cent of homeless people using inner-city services come from suburban and regional areas,” Dr Garner said.

 

“For more than a decade, Wesley Mission has been witnessing a drift of homeless people from these areas to the inner-city and has long advocated for a more considered approach to this trend.

We are now moving from ad hoc and piecemeal approaches to homelessness to a more strategic and cohesive model.”

 

Under the new package, Wesley Mission will be providing homeless support services and accommodation for families in the Parramatta, Holroyd, the Hills, Fairfield and Liverpool Local Government Areas, and on the Central Coast. It will also continue to provide inner-city services, and prevention services in south-eastern Sydney. An exciting new initiative will be the Coffs Harbour and Bellingen Homelessness Support Service for Young People.

 

Dr Garner said he was encouraged that the NSW Government had sought to establish a support fund for service providers who were not successful with their tenders. The fund will be available during the next 18 months

 

Each night, Wesley Mission provides accommodation and support to 400 people who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness.