Community housing service expands
June says her move to Salvos Housing has been "lifesaving". (Photo supplied by James Cameron, Salvos Housing)
Salvos Housing has just registered as a community housing provider in the ACT and NSW, and is finalising its registration in Queensland.
The new service is already managing 95 properties throughout NSW and the ACT. It works with existing homelessness services to provide sustainable housing, bringing together a range of existing long-term accommodation already owned or leased by various Salvation Army services and corps.
Salvos Housing Property Services Manager James Cameron says: “A coordinated approach to long-term accommodation will help us transform the lives of those experiencing homelessness – now and in the future”.
The new service was established in anticipation of a federal government national regulatory framework for not-for-profit community housing providers.
As well as managing existing properties, Salvos Housing is working with The Salvation Army to explore constructing new housing for those in greatest need.
The Salvation Army, working with the ACT government, has already purpose built 23 apartments in the Narrabundah social housing complex in the ACT. The accessible housing was specially desgined for aging public housing tenants. The housing is managed by the Salvation Army, and James says feedback from tenants has been “extremely positive.”
Retiree June McGuire is one many clients who reports feeling markedly safer in their new apartments.
A public housing client since her husband left her alone to raise their four young children many years ago, June later lost two adult sons in a motor vehicle accident. Her daughter was later involved in another car accident.
June gave up her (public) family home to care for her daughter and family, and she moved back into the housing system when her daughter recovered. This time, however, she but was placed into large and aging public housing complex in an economically depressed area.
Although naturally a very positive person, June says she was soon regularly getting sick and unable to sleep. “You couldn’t put anything outside because it would be gone the next day,” she says.
“We had drugs pushers, and my car was vandalised seven times. I was on tenterhooks the whole time I was there. Everybody was.”
Since moving to Narrabundah, June says she has dropped her medication markedly and feels safe and secure, both inside and in her lovingly-tended garden.
She says: “I went out the other night for my grandson’s birthday at night. I haven’t done that for years.
“It does make a big difference knowing it is through the Salvos,” she says. “My father was in the World War II and he lost his arm on the front line. He said if it wasn’t for the Salvos he would never have got out.”
For June, the “lifesaving” move is something she says she can never repay. “It is absolutely wonderful,” she says.
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