08 Aug, 2018

Businesses to work together to address homelessness

As part of the Adelaide Zero Project, the City of Adelaide will lead a Business Alliance to End Homelessness that will see it engage with city traders and corporate business leaders to support the homeless sector to end rough sleeping.

The Adelaide Zero Project aims to achieve Functional Zero¹ homelessness in Adelaide’s CBD within two years. More than 30 organisations have committed to the 2020 target. Bendigo Bank and Community Sector Banking have already indicated their willingness to be part of the Business Alliance and have provided significant support to the Adelaide Zero Project.

City businesses are valuable to a collective response to homelessness as they can provide information on the movements and locations of rough sleepers which is useful in connecting services with people.

The City of Adelaide is aiming to utilise the social and intellectual capital of businesses to identify innovative solutions of which they can be a part, along with securing support to assist specialist homelessness services to deliver housing and employment for people experiencing homelessness.

Lord Mayor of Adelaide Martin Haese announced the Alliance this morning at the Homelessness Conference organised by the Don Dunstan Foundation as part of national Homelessness Week.

“I am pleased to announce that as part of the Adelaide Zero Project, the City of Adelaide will lead a Business Alliance to End Homelessness. We play a key role in the responses to homelessness due to our immediate connection with the community,” said the Lord Mayor.

“Unlocking solutions to on-street homelessness requires a whole of community response and I believe that our city businesses have the desire and the ability to find solutions.

“We are looking to partner with organisations to enable new and innovative solutions for vulnerable people. These solutions must involve us working together as a team.

“We will continue to show other cities the benefits of genuine collaboration across sectors by developing meaningful solutions that are tailored to our local context and work for everyone.”

The City of Adelaide works closely with State Government and non-government organisations to ensure a coordinated approach to supporting vulnerable people in the city, and delivers the Homeless and Vulnerable People Project with part funding from the South Australian Housing Authority.

It also funds many initiatives across the city through community partnerships with the Hutt Street Centre, Catherine House, St John’s Youth Service, Uniting Communities, Unity Housing, Adelaide Day Centre, Brian Burdekin Clinic, Shelter SA, Baptist Care, Aboriginal Sobriety Group and the Don Dunstan Foundation.

David Pearson, Executive Director of the Don Dunstan Foundation, said, “Homelessness can affect all of us and so it is all of our responsibility to be part of the solution - governments, individuals and business”.

“That’s what so great about the City of Adelaide taking a leading role in engaging the business community in addressing the issue of street homelessness.”

In the coming weeks, the Lord Mayor will be hosting a forum with city precinct groups and key partners in the homelessness sector to discuss challenges faced in each local business precinct and opportunities to work together to overcome these challenges.

Find out more about the Adelaide Zero Project.

¹ Functional zero homelessness is reached when the number of people who are homeless in a city on any given night is no greater than the housing placement availability for that night – and is reduced over time. This focuses on the need for housing supply to match demand in the short term, and in the longer term.

Paula Stevens