A $35 MILLION housing, training and support centre has opened in Leederville to support the state’s growing number of vulnerable youth.
Officially opened by Premier Colin Barnett this morning, Foyer Oxford, located on the Central Institute of Technology (CIT) campus in Leederville, will provide housing for 98 young people at risk of homelessness, as well as offer access to education and employment services.
Foundation Housing will manage the facility with support services provided by Anglicare WA, while the CIT will deliver training and education to the residents.
Foundation Housing chief executive officer Kathleen Gregory said the program attended to the root cause of the problem of homelessness, which affected 6,000 young people who comprised about 40 per cent of the state’s homeless.
The Foyer Oxford development is the first of its kind in Western Australia and modelled on similar Foyer facilities around the world, of which there are 1,000.
The Foyer projects started in France in the 1950s and are integrated learning and accommodation centres providing housing, support and training for young people, while aiming to find residents a permanent home.
Research from Foyer projects in the UK showed 72 per cent of residents successfully transitioned into jobs or further educations, 68 per cent obtained formal qualifications, and 80 per cent maintained tenancies two years after moving on from the facilities.
The opening of Foyer Oxford follows last month’s unveiling of the Salvation Army’s $23.3 million Beacon Men’s Hostel in Perth.
The four-storey hostel offers 102 bedrooms for men seeking accommodation for up to six months, and replaces the Lentara hostel for homeless men, which was built in the 1970s.
St Bartholomew’s House, which unveiled its $34 million Lime Street facility in August 2012, is now proposing a redevelopment of its vacant Brown Street property in East Perth.
St Bartholomew’s is seeking $25 million in donations to build mixed apartments for low-income earners, including over 55s, singles, couples and families.
Foyer Oxford, designed to accommodate people aged 16 to 25 years, comprises 98 self-contained bedsit-style apartments and communal facilities, including a common room, garden and courtyard, laundry and training room.
The federal government contributed $10.7 million towards the building, the state government provided $9.1 million, while Lotterywest contributed $3.2 million.
BHP Billiton has matched $5 million in funding from the Department for Child Protection and Family Support, which will be used towards operational costs over the next five years.
CIT has also designed a specific course for residents, which Foyer Oxford claims is the first time an educational institution has been so closely integrated into a social project of this kind.
The building, which was constructed by Diploma Group, was completed in late January and 23 residents have already moved in.