It’s Official – Halls Creek Houses Now Open!
11 June 2015
The Minister for Housing, the Hon. Colin Holt MLC, visited Halls Creek recently to officially open Stage 1 of the Transitional Housing Program. The program is an innovative partnership developed to support Aboriginal people to move into home ownership.
Community members, new tenants and staff from Wunan Foundation, the Department of Housing and Community Housing Limited came together to celebrate the opening of the eight homes in Wilkinson Street.
Wunan Foundation sees housing as much more than just ‘bricks and mortar’ – because housing provides a powerful enabler for people to build independent, constructive and sustainable lives. Transitional Housing helps Aboriginal people support themselves by providing a clear and affordable pathway as they move from welfare to a working future.
The model is designed to create a strong incentive for aspiring tenants to be in work and continue striving for self-reliance. By developing housing options that reward people for commitment and self-responsibility, the model ensures that people are rewarded for effort, not passivity.
The program has already been an outstanding success in Kununurra, where several Aboriginal individuals and families have already made the transition into building or purchasing their own homes.
The eight houses in Halls Creek are all tenanted, families are happy and settled and are ensuring that their children are attending school and that their homes and gardens are well cared for.
The Halls Creek Transitional Housing Program now has a waiting list of people keen to take up the opportunity to move into housing and employment. A further seven houses are currently under construction and due to be completed later this year.