Jenan Taylor
6 March 2024
A group of faith charities are closer to offering homes to people experiencing homelessness after agreeing to build an affordable housing project.
The Village will build 10 long-term rental homes for people facing homelessness on land owned by Emmaus Christian Community, a group of South Croydon Anglican parishioners.
The charities want to enable people who would otherwise have no home live well in affordable, long-term housing.
It comes as the Council to Homeless Persons declared in a 2024-25 state budget submission that homelessness in Victoria was at crisis point.
Homelessness shelter charity Stable One, who designed the project, said it was part of the organisation’s mission of offering care and God’s love.
Read more: New homeless seeking aid at church shelters
Managing director Jenny Willetts said the initiative used a supportive housing model that helped tenants who might be disconnected, lonely, or have physical and mental health needs settle in.
She said for the housing to be affordable, the rent would be at least 25 per cent below market value.
Under the model, Emmaus Christian Community would offer pastoral care and church connection, Habitat for Humanity would manage construction and maintenance, and Servants Community Housing tenancy referrals.
Ms Willetts said Stable One would coordinate the project, and provide “placemakers”, or community development workers who lived onsite to help residents’ settle in and enhance their wellbeing.
A major challenge was funding, with the project estimated to cost about $3 million, she said.
Ms Willetts said some funds would come from Emmaus’s sale of some of the land, but Stable One would still need to raise at least $2.5 million.
Emmaus Christian Community said developing affordable community housing for people in need had been its goal since members purchased the land behind South Croydon Anglican in 1980.
Chair the Venerable Bruce Bickerdike said until now it had been hard to raise funds and get approval to do so.
There was now a greater chance of fulfilling that long held vision, because of the agreement Mr Bickerdike said.
Secretary Peter Latham said working together with the other organisations would bring another major Emmaus aim closer, if the project got up.
Mr Latham said that was to foster close connections between South Croydon Anglican and the wider community, through pastoral care provision at The Village.
He said Emmaus members believed it was important that the Church reach people in the community, irrespective of where they were.
Ms Willetts said Stable One hoped that if successful, the project would someday become a model for similar small scale housing ventures
Read more: Dawne drawn to helping reduce housing stress
“We want to be able to say here’s a model that works, that we’ve tried and tested, and we’ll support you with everything we’ve learned to help you do the same. It’s not about creating huge developments, but rather little communities connected to a church,” she said.
In September 2023 the Victorian government said it planned to streamline housing planning approvals so that more homes could be built faster.
Victoria has the second highest homelessness rate in Australia according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures from the 2021 Census.
To find out more about The Village, see here.
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