HUB OFFERS A HELPING HAND
AS Townsville’s housing and homelessness crisis continues to worsen, dozens of locals are being given a helping hand by a local provider.
Formerly the Townsville Drop In Centre, now the Althea Community Hub, has revealed it’s helping dozens of people struggling with housing and finding their next meal.
Althea Projects chief executive Paula La Rosa said the city was continuing to do it tough.
“Unemployment rates (are) going up, housing prices are on the rise, we’ve seen a 40 per cent increase in rents, yet income has only gone up about half,” Ms La Rosa said.
“The people that we work with are generationally living in poverty, but we’re also seeing new faces access the centre to access supports after the loss of employment and through the domestic and family violence that’s running rife through our community.”
Chris Brown, 34, and Marie Pilcher, 45, know what it’s like to struggle, with their move to Townsville eight months ago heralding the toughest time of their lives, sleeping rough in the city.
“We were always on and off the streets. We found it very hard to find our own place,” Ms Pilcher said.
“(Althea Community Hub) was always somewhere we’ve come to get a feed, clothing, do our laundry. They help with everything you need.”
Mr Brown said the hub also gave them the opportunity to earn some money, by doing odd jobs around the property.
“First we were staying up near the Causeway near the train station. We did have our own tent at one stage and then just slept on a mattress with a few blankets,” Mr Brown said.
“We decided to go to the Reverend Charles Harris Diversionary Centre in Cosgrove and ever since then we just stayed there.”
The community hub and diversionary centre ran a combined program that provided the couple with short-term goals to help “get on track”.
Recently, the hub’s staff had a breakthrough by securing the couple a unit in Hermit Park – which they moved into on Monday. “Now that we’ve got that stability, we really want to start working again,” Ms Pilcher said.
The couple’s success story is one of many that staff can share since Althea took over running the centre in 2017. Every day, the centre meets a range of needs for more than a 100 visitors. Ms La Rosa said they were working with about 50 people a month on case plans, with the goal of accessing sustainable accommodation.
“We deliver a range of workshops such as Money Matters, and other health and wellbeing workshops like drumming circle and art therapy delivered either one-on-one or in groups.
“On average we have 74 people accessing breakfast and 120 for lunch.”
She said the hub provided connectedness and safety for visitors, along with access to bathrooms, laundry facilities, and visiting medical professionals.
Althea’s Community Hub is located at 46-48 Morehead St, South Townsville.