BAYWEST Youth Housing officers have been on hand since the early 1980s to provide emergency accommodation for local youths, boost self esteem and even sometimes provide a shoulder to cry on.
But that shoulder may not exist when local youths next need it because managers are assessing the long-term viability of the service.
Co-ordinator Rhonda Collins said she received a non-committal response from the State Government to her plea for more funding at the Community Cabinet held in Hobsons Bay last month.
“We are questioning our long term viability,” Ms Collins said.
“At the moment we are fine but when it comes to the end of the financial year if there is no increase in funding we are going to find it extraordinarily hard to continue.
“Once we get past January we will know which direction we are heading in.
“We got no suggestions from the Department we are going to get an increase in funding.”
The housing service buses its clients to mental health services, hospitals, counselling and accommodation services.
Ms Collins said BayWest was aimed at 15- to 25-year-olds, singles or couples, who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
It is the only youth accommodation program in Hobsons Bay.
“Seventy five percent of clients are from Hobsons Bay and Wyndham, so you are talking about a very localised service,” she said.
“The people that we work with are often excluded and are usually very isolated.
“The average stay for a person in our accommodation is 12 to 18 months and we have found the community of Hobsons Bay has been extremely supportive.”
Ms Collins said about 75 percent of people who left the service would continue to live in Hobsons Bay.
“I think that says a lot about the community; they feel a connection they may not have experienced before,” she said.
Ms Collins said BayWest adopted a holistic approach to keeping youths off the streets.
“Last financial year we assisted 126 young people so that’s quite a few and I guess if anything we will notice an increase this year,” she said.
“Our whole aim is providing young people with the opportunity to have self determination and maintain long term accommodation.
“They all like to do the things that all other young people like to do; it’s just they haven’t had the opportunities to do it.
“In a perfect world there wouldn’t be services like ours but it’s not a perfect world.”
