Elizabeth Dawson’s harrowing experience in a women’s refuge has ended in a multimillion dollar boost for Canberra’s homelessness services.
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The founder of the Common Ground Canberra board embarked on almost six years of campaigning for increased homelessness support after she stopped a distressed woman from taking her own life in a local refuge.
“I had to cut her down,” Ms Dawson said.
“All we could offer her was a taxi ride and one night in a hotel… Her voice has rung in my ears ever since.”
Almost $17 million in joint funding from the Federal and ACT Governments was announced on Monday, enabling the development of long-term accommodation and support services for the city’s homeless community.
The project, to be built as part of the Common Ground Supportive Housing program, will consist of 40 units in Gungahlin.
Ms Dawson said the facility will house both low incomes earners and members of the “chronically homeless” community, as well as providing health, education and substance addiction services.
The funding was announced by Federal Minister for Housing and Homelessness Julie Collins and ACT Minister for Housing Shane Rattenbury, who thanked the Federal Government for providing $4 million in capital funding.
“The ACT Government has put up the land and the first $7.5 million of funding,” he said.
“This additional funding from the Commonwealth gets us very close to having the money we need.”
Mr Rattenbury said the government was still investigating greenfield sites for the project, to be completed by December 2014. The land is expected to be valued at $2.2 million.
He said a lot of work was being done to address homelessness in the capital, but admitted the government wasn’t doing enough.
“There are still people who are homeless and so, we’re not doing enough,” he said.
‘There’s always a job to do.”
The ACT Government committed $7.6 million in the 2013-14 ACT budget for the Common Ground program, including the construction of supportive housing complex targeting singles and couples who are homeless or at risk.
A spokeswoman for Mr Rattenbury’s office said in addition to the Federal Government’s $4 million, the ACT would receive $1.48 million in matched funding through the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.
