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Oasis expansion to benefit young homeless in ACT

23 October 2012
Oasis expansion to benefit young homeless in ACT

A youth worker stands outside the Oasis Youth Service in Canberra. (Photo supplied by Oasis Youth Service)


A major expansion of The Salvation Army’s Oasis Youth Service in Canberra is underway, after the service was awarded a government contract to deliver the Emergency Accommodation Network for young people in the ACT.

Oasis Manager, Carolyn Bradley, says under the contract the service will quadruple its client intake and expand to new premises.

“We think it’s a great opportunity to do more of the work that we were doing before and also to work as part of a broader youth service system,” she says.

Clients will also have access to a range of new services including living skills and crisis mediation programs that help young people work through conflict with their family while remaining at home.

The expansion will mean that more young people facing homelessness in Canberra will receive accommodation and assistance from Oasis. Among them will be Joanne*, who left home as a teenager due to conflict with her stepfather. She couch-surfed and slept in her car until she came into contact with the team at Oasis.

“If I didn’t find Oasis I probably would have ended up on the street,” she says.

Joanne stayed in crisis accommodation at Oasis for six months. During that time the service supported her financially to undertake a security course, after which she gained employment.

“The world is her oyster,” says Joanne’s case manager, Lorne Lenz. “She is an incredibly smart young woman who can really do whatever she wants… People like Joanne are the reason why I keep working in this job!”

When Joanne was ready to live independently, Oasis secured community housing and helped her transition into her own unit, providing furniture and other items that she needed.

“They are like family because they help, they support,” says Joanne. “At the end of the day, that’s all you need. You need someone to believe in you and support you and love you.”

Oasis case worker Lorne Lenz recently received the Outstanding Contribution to Young People award from the ACT Youth Coalition.

*Joanne not her real name.

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