Womens Community Shelters A communitybased network of crisis

Women’s Community Shelters A community-based network of crisis accommodation shelters for women who are homeless or leaving domestic violence Supporting homeless women

Women’s Homelessness & Domestic Violence Around 70% of women who are homeless or escaping domestic violence are turned away from crisis accommodation services every day. Australia-wide, at least 50, 000 women are homeless each night. Groups at particular risk include: * * * women and children experiencing domestic violence, older women, indigenous women young pregnant women with immigration issues newly-settled migrants. Supporting homeless women

How do we know this? Research undertaken by Effective Philanthropy for Women’s Community Shelters did a sector-wide analysis of available supply and demand data, which indicated a strong need for more women’s shelters Research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) supports our analysis. We know that demand for services is growing with increased awareness and reporting Domestic violence is the primary cause of women’s homelessness in Australia Supporting homeless women

What’s happening in communities? * Local communities are seeing increasing numbers of women (and children) who are homeless and leaving domestic violence presenting through police, legal and court advocacy services, neighbourhood centres, playgroups, doctors and health facilities, chaplains, schools and workplaces * communities can be supported with the right tools to create a locally owned and driven response * communities have an appetite to engage around local solutions to identified needs Supporting homeless women

What are the key challenges in supporting communities who want to start shelters ? Cost – It’s expensive, how would we fund it? (a shelter for 10 single women or 6 women with children costs around $400, 000 per annum to run) Intellectual property – how do you run a shelter? What’s the staffing model? What’s the best way to keep women (and children) safe? What are the pay rates? Do I need policies and procedures? Leadership & staffing– how do we find the right staff? Are there professional standards? How do we make sure they engage with community? How do we know they provide best practice care? Project Management - where would we start? What are the important tasks? How would we find the right property? Who do we need to talk to? Supporting homeless women

Who are Women’s Community Shelters? Women’s Community Shelters (WCS) was established in 2011 by the founders of the Manly Women’s Shelter, which has been providing crisis accommodation and case management to women on the Northern Beaches for over 5 years. We have since established 6 more shelters in: * * * Hornsby Kuring-gai (Sydney – North Shore) Great Lakes (NSW Mid North Coast) Hills District (Sydney North West) Penrith (Outer West) Bayside (Inner South East) Parramatta (West) WCS is working with 3 other local communities to replicate this model in areas of need. Supporting homeless women

The WCS Model Supporting homeless women

What does WCS provide to communities? Project Management support – a partner who has done this before, and who can step through a developed critical path to opening a shelter in partnership with the people in a community who can make it happen. Funding – WCS will provide half the set up costs (around $50, 000 total) and underwrite up to 2/3 of the operational costs of the shelter (around $400, 000 per annum per shelter) for two years. We will continue to underwrite up to 50% per annum from Year 3 onwards. The balance is drawn from local community fundraising. Community, business, philanthropy and government in partnership. ‘Shelter in a box’ Intellectual Property – WCS provides a developed suite of incorporation templates, Policies and Procedures, job descriptions, safety guidelines, a cost-efficient operating model and staffing structure to support day-to-day operations, as well as an outcomes-based bespoke computer system to assist with case management and resident support Ongoing Shelter Network support – joining a community of practice with other shelter board members, professional staff, and WCS expertise to continue and enhance community skilling, professional development, innovation and best practice. Supporting homeless women

What has WCS achieved so far? * 6 shelters established (5 in the last 5 years) with a further 2 -3 opening in 2019/20. * More than 30, 000 bed nights provided per annum * $5 m+ in community & philanthropy assets sourced * Social capital and resilience build in communities * Raised awareness on women’s homelessness and domestic violence * Ground-breaking collaboration at the local level on early intervention and prevention work Supporting homeless women

Where to from here? WCS partnered with the NSW State Government for 20182020 to: * partially underwrite our existing network of 6 shelters * establish 2 -3 new shelters over the next 2 years * roll out our innovative, outcomes-driven data system Supporting homeless women

What’s our future vision? * to change the paradigm in Australia on domestic and family violence, community by community * to take our shelter network Australia wide * to provide an evidence-based, continuously improving best -practice approach to supporting women and children * to collect outcomes-based data, share our learning and innovate based on our findings * to encourage community mobilisation, participation and response Supporting homeless women