Existing services cannot meet the demand for crisis accommodation for women who are homeless. More than one in two women across Australia who seek a bed in a crisis shelter are turned away every night, mostly due to a lack of space. And these are just the ones who find out they can ask for a safe place to go.
Women’s Community Shelters works with communities to establish new shelters, which provide short term emergency accommodation and support in a safe environment that enables homeless women to rebuild self-esteem and achieve control and fulfilment of their lives.
For a woman to get out of the situation she faces, she needs a range of support services, not just help finding affordable housing. These include access to counselling, health care, assistance to navigate government bureaucracy, legal help, further education and employment to reestablish control over her life.
At a time of reduced government spending, Women’s Community Shelters offers a new and ground-breaking ‘tri-partite’ funding model in which Government, philanthropy/business and community all work to provide funding to establish and operate shelters.
In addition, WCS brings expertise in governance, intellectual property, professional development and project management support to communities looking to establish new shelters. With a strong and experienced Board and a highly professional team, WCS is focused on supporting each shelter to develop best practice and achieve positive individual outcomes for the women staying at the shelters, while remaining cost efficient.
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