RED TAPE STRANGLES VINNIE HOMELESS HELP
A ST Vincent de Paul charity hub designed to help curb homeless issues in Southport is being held back by red tape and building problems.
St Vincent de Paul south coast executive director Kris Martin announced the project in September last year after the charity paid $4 million for two buildings formerly owned by the fallen FSG. The Railway St properties had been put to the market by FSG administrators FTI Consulting after the disability support provider went into administration in 2018 with $25 million debt.
At the time, Mr Martin said he intended the premises at No 16 and No 20 Railway St to be a model for the region, bringing together services at five locations across the Gold Coast.
The No 16 building was to provide homeless and family support accommodation, along with family, youth, migration, budgeting and legal advice services. However, St Vincent is still struggling to complete refurbishment of the building to make it ready for its staff.
Mr Martin said delays were caused by the age of the building and certification and approval issues.
“This is before COVID-19 put a further delay to the project when tenders were challenging to secure. We are working with a builder to complete the build,” he said.
The charity has made more progress with No 16’s neighbour, home to the charity’s first Southport shop in six years with support staff and volunteers upstairs.
A plan to have a cafe on site has been put on the backburner.
Mr Martin said homelessness was an increasing problem in the Southport CBD and, in the past six months, the charity had provided support to 793 people either at risk of or currently homeless.
Of those, 245 were under the age of 16 and 99 were aged older than 65. “Of the 793 people supported, 242 were visited in their homes or where they were living in temporary accommodation, and 204 visited our support centre,” Mr Martin said.
“Across the Gold Coast, St Vincent de Paul has 11 properties which can house people at risk of homelessness or homeless, and as an organisation we can also house people in private rental accommodation.”