Castlemaine’s collective commitment towards creating innovative solutions to help address the region’s housing crisis shone through at My Home Network’s Community Housing Forum in the Castlemaine Good Shed last week.
About 60 locals attended the forum last Thursday evening to hear speakers from a range of community and housing organisations and projects share updates on the success stories of their work.
Pauline Bolsch of the Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation opened with an Acknowledgment of Country, followed by the traditional lighting of a candle and a minute’s silence to recognise and reflect upon the many people impacted by homelessness.
MHN member Margaret Griffen spoke on the MHN Vacant Dwellings Working Group and its efforts in encouraging owners of vacant homes and unused ‘shop tops’ to release them for affordable and transitional housing for those on waiting lists for social housing and local rentals.
Dhelkaya Health Homeshare coordinator Di Cox talked on the success of the local Homeshare initiative, where local residents offered their spare room in return for an agreed amount of practical help and company each week. In Mount Alexander Shire, one in three households are single-person households and 744 people (mostly women) over 75 live alone.
Mount Alexander Sustainability Group’s Terry White spoke about the group’s successful Social Housing Retrofitting pilot, which has seen local homes retrofitted and delivered outstanding energy savings for their residents.
Mr White also spoke about MASG’s Solar Bank proposal, which seeks to place solar on public buildings and establish a system to deliver affordable renewable energy to renters.
Older Women in Co-Housing president Mary-Faeth Chenery gave an update on the group’s plans to develop 31 small homes in a collective housing model for women over 50 on land on the fringe of Castlemaine.
Castlemaine Community House community development coordinator Kerrily ‘Kez’ Jennings spoke on the newly created ‘Help At Hand’ flyer and map. The map brings together the range of local support services, informal supports and guidance on where people in crisis can access food, clothing, housing, financial assistance, shower facilities and locations to charge their phones or access Wi-Fi.
Castlemaine Institute representative Alison Whitten gave an overview of the Retrofitting for Resilience research project with partners Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance. The project aims to identify practical options for residents living in houses that are more exposed to the impacts of climate change, to upgrade or retrofit their homes and gardens to enhance resilience.
MHN coordinator and forum facilitator, Carolyn Neilson, said attendees were inspired by hearing of the local, invigorating, integrated initiatives that were making a difference.
“It was great to hear the conversations after the speakers and build on our collective action,” Ms Neilson said.
MHN was established in 2019 in response to the growing number of people at risk of homelessness and those living rough through a dire lack of available and affordable housing.
To receive email updates about MHN, to join one of its working groups or to find out more about future events, email Ms Neilson via cneilson@castlemainehealth.org.au
