The Hope Street First Response Youth Service is an innovative new model designed to respond to youth homelessness via a place-based approach in the north-western growth corridor of Melbourne. The service consists of two components – a youth refuge providing supported crisis accommodation, and a mobile outreach service available 365 days per year including after hours:
Youth Refuge
The service is being provided within a purpose-built youth refuge consisting of three separate buildings:
- 8-bed communal living building
- 2-bedroom family unit for young people and their children
- an integrated consulting centre
The design is based on leading specialist youth-focused practice.
What does the refuge offer?
Service delivery is based on the enhanced youth refuge model aiming to improve outcomes for young people as a part of a homelessness prevention approach that includes access to:
- short/longer term accommodation
- emergency relief such as food, material aid or medication
- immediate and short term services for general and specialist health; employment, education or training; legal and financial matters; recreational/social connectivity
Hope Street has launched the new youth refuge in partnership with the state government, philanthropic community, corporate sector, Melton City Council and local community members. This purpose-designed centre provides specialist wrap around support services for young people and young families experiencing homelessness. The First Response Youth Mobile Outreach Service works with the emergency accommodation centre, providing at risk young people with stable and safe accommodation and youth-specific supports.
How can young people access the refuge?
Young people must be:
- 16 - 25 years of age
- individuals or part of a couple / family (eg siblings, single parent and child, couple and child)
- (at risk of) experiencing homelessness and in crisis
- linked to the Melton local government area as well as neighbouring LGAs
Please contact our First Response Youth Refuge Team on 0413 539 830 or
OUTCOMES SUMMARY, 2020-2021
- 101 young people including their children supported
- 106 support period1
- 50.7% female
- 49.3% male
- Annual target achieved
Learn more about the young people supported, and our impact, from the report below.
- A support period is the length of time during which a client receives services from Hope Street. The support period ends when the client stops receiving those services, eg they exit one of our programs. Sometimes a young person/family (at risk of) experiencing homelessness requires more than one support period to ensure that they have every opportunity to secure stable accommodation and remain connected to their families, networks, education and employment. ↩