Purpose built solution relieves housing shortage for vulnerable members of community
Purpose built solution relieves housing shortage for vulnerable members of community
Access Community Housing is taking pressure off crisis accommodation in Cairns with the official opening of its first, purpose-built residential project comprising 10, one and two-bedroom units.
Access Community Housing CEO Donna-Maree O’Connor said women and children who have survived domestic and family violence will be the residents of this new and affordable housing complex in Mooroobool.
According to Ms O’Connor, the $2.4 million complex is a first for Access Community Housing and has been built by MiHaven over the past 12 months using a $990,000 grant from the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund along with State Government reserve funds (held by Access Community Housing).
Federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said this was a much-needed development.
“Focusing on women who are escaping domestic and family violence and the growing group of single homeless women, this complex will provide much needed safe, secure accommodation for these women and their children,” he said.
In recognising recent milestone, Ms O’Connor said that they are immensely proud of the building which is the first social housing complex fitted with a solar power system.
“Each unit has a capacity equivalent to a medium-sized home ensuring low or no energy bills for our residents,” she said.
The complex has security systems and CCTV installed.
“There is a distinct shortage of affordable housing in Cairns and with over 2000 people on the waiting list for social housing, women and children escaping domestic and family violence often have few housing options available to them.
“We are thrilled to be working with support services in Cairns to offer safe and secure housing options, and with the added benefit of low-cost energy,” she said.
Established in 1991, Access Community Housing Company (ACHC) is the largest community housing provider in Far North Queensland, approved under the National Regulatory Systems (NRS). Its aim is to improve people’s lives through the provision of housing to individuals and families approved on the Department of Housing and Public Works (DHPW)
_Register of Need_.
Access Community Housing is committed in its aim to address Far North Queensland’s housing shortage. Its highly skilled and professional team currently manage a portfolio of approximately 600 properties from Babinda in the south to Mossman in the north (providing homes for approximately 1250 people) and work closely with local support services to sustain tenancies.
For more, visit www.achc.org.au
