Frankston Times 29 March 2022

Page 7

NEWS DESK

Ten rehoused through new homelessness initiative SINCE starting in August last year, workers involved in the “Frankston Zero” program have helped rehouse ten people experiencing homelessness and provided support to another 104. Frankston Zero is an initiative designed to tackle homelessness started by the Frankston City Strategic Housing and Homelessness Alliance. The organisation is a collaboration between 14 agencies. The alliance’s chair, Angela Hughes, says that the homelessness rates in the Frankston municipality are “growing and impacting different groups of people, resulting from a range of complex and intersecting social, economic and housing market factors”. The

Frankston Council area experienced a 388 per cent increase in rough sleeping homelessness between 2016 and the Frankston Zero launch in August 2021. “Rapidly rising housing costs and inadequate supplies of social and affordable housing mean that many households are living in housing stress, which occurs when property costs exceed 30 per cent of household income among those on a low income – and in turn increases their risk of homelessness,” Ms Hughes said. “The dominant form of housing stress in Frankston City is rental stress, with 35.4 per cent living in rental stress, compared to 31.8 per cent for greater Melbourne. The majority of people living in rental stress were on very low incomes.”

To help combat homelessness, Ms Hughes says that the Frankston Zero program “operates beyond traditional funding models and includes holistic support including mental health, family violence and trauma support, while working with the person to find secure housing.” One of the practices used as part of the Frankston Zero initiative is a “By Name List”, a list of rough sleepers in Frankston shared between Frankston Council, Launch Housing, and other agencies (“Aim for no rough sleepers by 2023” The Times 24/8/21). For more information on the initiative visit frankston.vic.gov.au/YourCouncil/Advocacy/Tackling-Homelessness-in-Frankston-City

STRATEGIC alliance chair Angela Hughes, Frankston Zero chair Jackie Galloway, Bolton Clarke Homeless Persons Program outreach nurses Jodie Hodder and Claire Lang, and Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy (L to R). Picture: Supplied

On the hustings: Chris Crewther, Parker Lange-Ward, Abbey Bradley and Matthew Guy at Mt Eliza Secondary College. Picture: Gary Sissons

Libs target education in early electioneering CAMPAIGNING is well and truly underway on the Mornington Peninsula, with Liberal’s Matthew Guy in Mornington recently to announce a funding promise for Mount Eliza Secondary College. It comes just weeks after the opposition leader made a similar announcement for Somers Primary School. Mr Guy was accompanied by Mornington candidate Chris Crewther on Tuesday to make a commitment of $2.5 million for the secondary school, following on from his earlier $3.2 million for the primary school. Mr Crewther said the commitment would deliver the construction of a requested new modular Senior Students’ Centre, a comprehensive School Master Plan to identify, plan, design and cost a redevelopment and future infrastructure needs, and safety fixes at the front of the school.

“Families and students in Mount Eliza and surrounding areas are set to win under a new commitment from the Victorian Liberals and Nationals to upgrade Mount Eliza Secondary College,” he said Mount Eliza Secondary College is one of only two public high schools in the Mornington electorate, servicing growing communities in Mount Eliza and beyond. Most buildings at the school are now approaching 50 years old and Mr Crewther said they were failing to keep up with the needs of students. Mr Guy highlighted the importance of backing students and local communities to recover and rebuild. The Liberals also held their campaign launch this month in Mornington, holding a meet and greet with shoppers in the Main Street and touting for votes. Liz Bell

IF GRANTS

We are here; beginning and beyond. At Frankston City Council we are

Façade Improvement Grants

tenacious with our commitment to

– designed to encourage property

providing investors with the tools

and business owners to invest in

they need to enrich our city.

shopfront improvements across

Frankston City Council offers a number of grants and incentives to help you take the next step in your business enterprise. After a decade of providing grants, with 54 issued to date, we aren’t planning on slowing down!

the city. Grants of up to $20,000 matched dollar for dollar per shopfront. Closing 3 April, 2022 Vacant Shopfront Activation Grants – designed to attract new businesses to vacant shopfronts across the city. Grants of up to

Right now, the following programs

$20,000 per eligible business.

are OPEN for applications:

Closing 3 April, 2022

APPLY TO DAY Making TODAY'S VISION tomorrow's reality INVEST FRANKSTON .COM

Scan QR code for more information Frankston Times

29 March 2022

PAGE 7


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