29th January 2024 - SHorewell Park, Burnie Opening

On the 29th January we had the pleasure of officially opening our first building in Shorewell Park, Burnie. This particular project is our first to offer self-contained living units with their own kitchenette and space for entertaining – an option that received very positive feedback. The home will be occupied by Family Based Care who have dedicated the rooms to aged citizens in the local community in desperate need of housing. Older people are vulnerable to homelessness because of reasons such as the death of a partner, lack of acquired financial assets, divorce, and abuse. 

“It’s an unacceptable situation in a country such as Australia,” says Bob Gordon, Chair of the SAA Trust. “Since its inception, the Trust has been committed to providing homes for vulnerable people. Until now, our focus has been supported accommodation for people with a disability. This new project extends our reach beyond people with a disability to other vulnerable Australians.”

Bob Gordon said the Trust’s previous building designs had been adapted in this instance to meet the specific needs of older people who were vulnerable to homelessness.  “The design provides an optimal blend of independent living and communal living with spaces to provide required support services, in a 6 star energy rated building that is easy to access, clean and cost efficient”

Six people will be housed by Family Based Care Tasmania at the new home while an additional independent living home for a further six people is being built next door at Shorewell Park.

The 1.2 hectare site at Shorewell Park allows for further affordable permanent accommodation options in the future that will be able to cater for a number of ‘at risk’ vulnerable Tasmanians. 

“The Trust is very thankful to the Burnie Council for making the acquisition of this public land possible. If more councils could look at releasing excess public spaces for this purpose, it would go a long way to meeting the shortage in available affordable housing. The SAA Trust would love to continue building on this site and others but desperately require further funding to continue our building program – ideally through a government grant.”

This building project has been funded entirely from the resources of the Supported Affordable Accommodation Trust using loaned funds. However, higher interest rates make this very costly and direct investments and grants are needed to be able to continue to construct a further 3 buildings (supporting a further 18 residents) on this site. Our hope is that the federal, state and council authorities will take notice and start urgently funding such initiatives themselves. 

We are passionate about continuing our work to support vulnerable people throughout Tasmania and Australia and hope to continue our work. If you would like to contribute to this worthy cause, please get in touch - we’d love to hear from you!