Housing Choices Australia Annual Report 2018

LincolnOgden Housing Choices’ first Intensive HousingOcer

Intensivesupport for thosewhoneed it.

When I started back in 2011, the then Common Ground organisation was a small one, employing roughly 14 people. Originally established to end homelessness, who would have thought we’d grow from having a mere 36 apartments in 2008, to where we are positioned today? In 2011, our oce didn’t exist and our Light Square apartments and community centre had just started construction. Part of my case management role at the time was to identify and assess disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals who were ready to embrace progressive change. An integral part of the program centered around creating pathways to employment, education and training opportunities, assisting residents link into their wider community networks and resources to improve holistic health and wellbeing, thus creating opportunities that would help people re-build their lives and transition to long-term housing stability. Now part of the Housing Choices Australia group, we’ve been aorded the increased capacity to grow as an organisation to deliver significantly greater outcomes and enhance our program’s impact.

Part of this impact is my new position in the organisation, as an Intensive Housing Ocer. In a nutshell, my role provides “step-in-step-out” service coordination and assists in providing short-term supports to some of the most vulnerable residents in the community. It’s an opportunity to facilitate sustainable tenancies by directly working with those who require additional support. Working autonomously to shape the parameters and functions of the support we provide, the role collaborates and interlinks with a range of community agencies who provide positive advocacy and intervention to our residents with the most complex needs. These needs range from drug, alcohol and substance misuse, mental health, the elderly, property care issues and assisting residents who have become isolated and vulnerable. This unique role excites and challenges me and provides a much broader opportunity to participate in the tasks I find particularly rewarding. I value my colleagues’ support and encouragement, even on the days where my job takes its toll. But our collaborative approach to finding solutions to some more complex issues, makes a genuinely valuable contribution to our residents - and I love that no day is the same.

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