Homelessness Action – What can be done?
How does Churches of Christ help with homelessness?
This Homelessness Week we’ve been sharing about some of the myths around homelessness, how housing affordability plays a role, and encouraging our staff at Kenmore Campus to contribute donations for our clients in crisis accommodation.
If you missed the article about housing affordability, you can read it here.
There is no single solution to the challenge of homelessness because of its broad and complex nature. However, all change starts small and significant progress can be achieved by the collective actions of individuals and organisations.
What Churches of Christ is doing to help.
The Housing Services team is growing its Specialist Homelessness Services offerings thanks to increased government funding. This is allowing us to provide more workers on the ground to deliver services and support those who are homeless. Day to day we have multiple activities going on to support people and communities.
- Housing Officers offer secure housing to people in need, supporting tenants to develop skills that help them sustain tenancies, connecting tenants with other services and managing maintenance
- Housing Support Workers manage referrals from people in crisis, working to stabilise clients' circumstances and address immediate barriers to finding and keeping housing, connecting people with services and ensuring they're safe, help find new belongings if needed, and managing the process of getting into safe and secure accommodation.
- Key staff promoting social connection, emotional wellbeing and resilience through activities and events as well as learning and upskilling opportunities.
- The continuing development of new homes to meet demand. Last month we opened a new social housing and Specialist Disability Accommodation development at the Churches of Christ Little Mountain integrated campus. This new development responds to a dire need for more affordable accommodation in the Sunshine Coast region and is giving both seniors and people with disability an affordable, secure and safe place to call home. Construction is also continuing at a new seniors social housing development at Basin Pocket in Ipswich, which will be completed later in the year.
What you can do
It can be hard to know what to do with a problem that seems so big, but there are significant actions that people can take, no matter how small they might seem. Some things people are currently doing to help are:
- Sharing the facts about homelessness in order to dispel common myths and stereotypes that hinder meaningful progress.
- Speaking to a local Member of Parliament to ask for more social housing and funding for support services.
- Exploring intergenerational living opportunities like granny flats for aged parents or embracing the necessity of having adult children live at home longer.
- Enrolling to be a foster (or kinship) carer so that children and youth who might otherwise be at risk of homelessness can enjoy a loving home.
- Learning about the unique barriers that present challenges for specific demographics, like First Nations peoples and LGBTQIA+ youth.
- Leasing properties or bequeathing land to community housing providers for use as social or affordable housing.
- Volunteering at a service that provides support to people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
There are both little and big things you can do to help solve homelessness, and learning more about homelessness during this week is one simple thing we can all do.
Want to know more about the work of our Housing Services team?
Check out the Social Housing part of the Churches of Christ website by visiting: https://www.cofc.com.au/social-housing
For more information about what the Queensland Government offers for housing assistance visit: Get housing advice and help | Homes and housing | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au)