As National Homelessness Week 2025 shines a spotlight on the growing housing crisis, a collaborative initiative between Community Housing Limited (CHL) and VincentCare Victoria is helping single mothers, young families and people with disability find safety, stability and a place to call home across Victoria.
Since 2023, VincentCare Victoria and CHL, one of Australia’s largest community housing providers, have worked to support 17 individuals and families in their long-term, affordable housing across Prahran, Wantirna South, Hawthorn, Gisborne, Sunbury and Derrimut.
CHL’s collaboration with VincentCare Victoria connects new community housing tenants with support workers for at least six months to help them navigate the process of entering long-term housing and ensure tenants receive the information and support they need to sustain their new home.
The ongoing initiative aims to deliver better outcomes for all involved, where CHL’s tenants can flourish in safe, secure housing by receiving tailored care and support that is critical to prevent re-entering homelessness or crisis situations. This is just one of more than 30 partnerships CHL has in place across Victoria.
“For a young, vulnerable person, a lot can happen in six months, let alone moving into long-term housing with all the new processes and responsibilities that it can bring,” said CHL’s Victorian State Manager, Frances Paterson-Fleider.
“Working in partnership with VincentCare Victoria ensures that people not only have a roof over their heads, but the support they need to sustain their tenancy and rebuild their lives. We know that housing alone isn’t enough, it’s the combination of housing and ongoing support that leads to lasting outcomes. Access to safe, affordable housing is the foundation for stability, dignity and opportunity and our utmost priority at CHL.”
Amongst those to benefit so far from CHL and VincentCare Victoria’s collaborative efforts are young mothers with newborns, students balancing education and work and young people living with complex disabilities, who were previously at risk of, or already experiencing, homelessness.
“At the last Census, nearly 31,000 Victorians, including 6,800 children, were experiencing homelessness. This highlights the urgent need for partnerships like the one between CHL and VincentCare to provide housing and support across Victoria,” said Dr Jennifer Fitzgerald AM, Group CEO, St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria.
CHL’s Paterson-Fleider adds: “With rising demand and a growing wait list across Victoria, as 146,000 families and individuals need social housing, we welcome recent federal investment through the Housing Australia Future Fund. However, continued funding is essential to meet the scale of the challenge and provide real and permanent pathways out of homelessness.”
“As we mark Homelessness Week 2025, CHL is proud to take action with our partners to end and prevent homelessness through this example of collaboration.”
