Narracan electorate homelessness services
Mr BLACKWOOD (Narracan) (09:49): I would like to bring the attention of the house to the launch of a very important program supporting homeless senior single women in Baw Baw shire. Fairview Village is a not-for-profit community organisation that has provided world-class facilities for senior residents of the community since 1956. On Monday the Liberal candidate for Narracan, Wayne Farnham, launched a project that will see the redevelopment of four unused independent living units that will be offered to senior single women who through no fault of their own find themselves homeless. The units will be refurbished, and Wayne, a builder, has taken on the task of coordinating the work as a volunteer, already securing the support of a number of tradesmen, building suppliers, and equipment and furniture suppliers on a pro bono basis. Quantum have entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Fairview Village board of management and are best placed to assist in identifying those most in need. This is a fantastic initiative developed by the new CEO of Fairview Village, Di Wallace, and supported by the Liberal candidate for Narracan.
Across Gippsland on any given night there are around 500 people of all ages without a home. At a recent meeting with Chris McNamara from Gippsland Homeless Network and Cindy Pullar from Quantum it was very disappointing to hear of the crisis situation that housing availability had reached. In 2020 the Andrews government announced $120 million to support the Victorian big build, and the Baw Baw shire was earmarked to receive a percentage of that funding. Our community is sick of waiting for this program to be rolled out. Fairview Village, Quantum and the Liberal candidate for Narracan, Wayne Farnham, are not prepared to wait any longer. They will do something about this situation right now.