Thanks to your donations, Uniting received a $30,000 grant from the Give Where You Live Foundation which helps assists members of our community who are homeless or are in danger of becoming homeless by providing a case worker who will advocate for them and provide specialist expertise.
Between July 2017 and December 2017, the Uniting case worker helped to directly assist 117 clients to obtain or retain housing and this indirectly assisted another 192 people. In total assistance was provided to 309 members of the Geelong Community.
The Homelessness Program worker completes housing applications, helps obtain emergency accommodation, arranges emergency food and clothing, works in partnership with other housing agencies as well as on a stand-alone basis and refers clients to other agencies where this will give the best outcome for them.
One such person who has been helped by Uniting is Kelly.
Kelly had been sleeping rough for some time. She wanted to live in a particular area of Geelong as her children were in care and attending school in this area. Kelly wished to be close to the children, as this would make contact easier and be the first step towards reunification of her family.
Kelly contacted Uniting Barwon about rent and bond assistance. The homelessness program worker was able to discuss options for accommodation with her and assist with the process of finding it.
A property was located within a few days. The worker referred Kelly to several other agencies, so a partnership of agencies could be formed to raise the money needed to secure the property. This was successful, and the property was secured. The worker assisted Kelly to move into the property and provided household items, furniture and food to help her set up her new home.
The Uniting Barwon Homelessness case worker continues to offer support to Kelly to make sure her tenancy is successful.