A refurbished former backpacker’s hostel in the heart of the Adelaide CBD has been repurposed to provide new short-term accommodation with accompanying support for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, following a sector-first partnership between the Toward Home Alliance and local real estate agency Harcourts Packham.“This partnership is an example of the private sector stepping up to do what they can to prevent and end homelessness and we warmly invite other organisations and investors to contact Harcourts Packham or the Toward Home Alliance to discuss repurposing unused housing stock to help prevent and end homelessness,” Lutheran Care (lead agency) Chief Executive Officer Rohan Feegrade says.
Director of Harcourts Packham, James Packham, says: “We’re aware of the vast numbers of people at present unable to secure rental accommodation, and those who cannot afford housing at all. Our goal is to demonstrate proof of concept with Terra Firma in order to scale and diversify the potential of this model towards ending homelessness.”
Further strengthening ties between the organisations, some of the Toward Home leadership team from Lutheran Care presented at Harcourts Packham’s February Kickstart event, a workforce development day held annually to inspire and inform staff.