By JESSE GRAHAM
A YARRA Ranges homelessness support organisation has been thrown a lifeline by the Federal Government, which recently announced it would restore lost funding for the next two years.
On 26 March, the Yarra Ranges Council announced that homelessness-support agencies would have their funding renewed by the Federal Government under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.
The funding had only been committed yearly by the government, and this year’s funds were set to run out on 30 June, before the government announced $230 million over the coming two years.
Social Services Minister Scott Morrison said the government would continue its funding agreement with the states until 2017.
Anchor, which provides services for families, young people and the homeless, will receive some of this funding for three of their programs, two of which could have been under the knife if the funding was not renewed.
Housing and Support manager Lisa Stockheim said that if the funding had not been announced, the organisation would have had to reduce or stop their support as soon as April.
“For us, it was a huge concern, because we would need to slow down our client intake or cease it, and we had staff that obviously needed to ask the question if they had a job here in the future,” Ms Stockheim said.
“It was quite stressful.”
She said the organisation was still awaiting the details of the funding and what it covered, but that staff were relieved that their work could continue.
“At this stage, we’re just breathing a collective sigh of relief and thinking ‘thank goodness’,” she said.
“We’re going to have our fingers crossed that it just covers everything.
“It was a close call, and we’re very happy for it, because it means we can provide the quality service we provide for our community.”
Anchor run three programs – Opening Doors, Accommodation Options for Families and A Place to Call Home – that focus on housing and support for people in the community affected by domestic violence or at risk of homelessness or exploitation from rooming houses.
The programs are run from the organisation’s Lilydale and Wantirna offices, and service residents throughout the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges.
Yarra Ranges Council estimates that 337 people in the municipality are homeless, including women and children fleeing domestic violence and young people unable to stay with their families.
“This advocacy win for the community now means local agencies, including Anchor, will be able to continue to provide important services to those in need,” a council spokesperson wrote in a statement.
