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IRT Reaches Out to Disadvantaged and Homeless Seniors
2 August 2011
Each night, tens of thousands of Australians don’t have a home to go to and this week our attention turns towards their plight during National Homeless Persons’ Week, August 1-7.
The theme for National Homeless Persons’ Week 2011 is Diversity in Homelessness. Homelessness affects a diverse cross section of our community, from the very young through to seniors. Lots of people are doing it tough - Homelessness Australia estimates that 105,000 Australians experienced homelessness on any given night last year. Some 17 per cent of homeless Australians are over the age of 55, and seniors are over-represented among those living in temporary and insecure housing or at risk of homelessness, according to Homelessness Australia.
There are many reasons why seniors become homeless. A shortage of affordable housing, the aged care pension falling short, loss of a partner and therefore loss of income and domestic violence all contribute to homelessness in seniors.
At IRT, we seek to raise awareness of the issues that can lead to seniors becoming homeless and take steps to address this problem, which severely impacts every aspect of a person’s life.
IRT Chief Executive, Nieves Murray said IRT was built on the foundation of providing care and accommodation to all seniors.
“IRT was established in recognition that senior Australians deserve to have their dignity and wellbeing maintained in safe, supportive environments,” she said. “That’s a philosophy that has only strengthened over the years – to ensure that seniors, irrespective of their circumstances, can achieve their optimum quality of life. We know there’s a chronic shortage of suitable accommodation for senior Australians and with an ageing population, this problem is likely to worsen.”
IRT has Community Housing Provider status and runs a variety of programs to help seniors whose circumstances may stop them accessing care, services and accommodation.
We are able to provide accommodation subsidised by the Federal Government’s National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), which helps tackle the shortage of affordable rental housing by allocating places within lifestyle communities to low and moderate income earners at 20 per cent below market rates. We provide NRAS places at IRT Macarthur (Campbelltown), IRT Diment Towers (Wollongong CBD) and IRT Sid Wearne (Bulli).
IRT Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged Program (ACHA) supports homeless seniors and seniors at risk of becoming homeless throughout the Illawarra. In the past year IRT ACHA has re-housed 99 seniors and linked them to support services.
“IRT has seen many seniors face huge challenges, which lead to isolation and inadequate healthcare and expose seniors to all kinds of risks,” Ms Murray said. “However, through IRT ACHA and NRAS programs we are able to offer seniors who are at risk security and enrich their lives.”
Benevolence is at the heart of what we do at IRT. We support disadvantaged people and communities by providing affordable housing.
We also invest in research that ultimately improves the quality of life of seniors through IRT Research Foundation.
For further information please contact:
Melissa Michie
Communications Coordinator
Phone: 4221 6653 or 0419 789 841
