Project Name: Housing Families: Connect > Move > Succeed
Received: $50,000 from a total project cost of $118,000
100 Women funds will cover 80% of the salary of a Specialist Housing Case Worker, along with equipment and travel expenses over two years.
Orana House’s mission is to empower everyone to make positive decisions and live free from family and domestic violence. With 30 years of service in the Perth community, they offer crisis accommodation, advocacy and a broad range of support services to women and their children before, during and after their experience of violence.
What is the project that the 100 Women grant will support?
The ‘Housing Families’ project is designed to connect survivors of family domestic violence with socially conscious landlords who can offer a sustainable property for these individuals to move and ultimately succeed. The project engages with both the supply and demand aspects of this challenge. For the housing supply, Orana House has already invested extensive resources in researching and launching a rental register with socially conscious landlords and property managers. For the demand side, the project will work with local refuges to identify individuals who have the capacity to sustain a successful tenancy.
The project will provide application support to these women and facilitate the move through ongoing case management. Orana will remain in contact with both the tenants and the property managers for the duration of the first lease and make a range of support services available. These include specialist counselling, pathways to employment and financial advice, as well as programs for women, children and teens to successfully restore their connections with the community and one another.
Who is the project for? Who else will benefit?
The project will support 50 women and their 140 children in finding private rental accommodation. Other beneficiaries include approximately 225 family and domestic violence sector staff and real estate agents who will be working with the participants of the project.
Why is the project needed?
There is a critical lack of long-term housing available for the women and children escaping family and domestic violence in Perth. While Orana’s frontline refuge staff can support clients into safe temporary housing, women often face discrimination in the private rental market when they attempt to reintegrate into society.
What are the planned outcomes for the project?
Success for this project will be measured by the number of:
- Women and children successfully moved into independent housing;
- Children successfully re-engaging in school;
- Women in a position to move forward with their own goals.
