Public housing residents will benefit from a range of health and wellbeing projects, thanks to a Victorian Government program that is ensuring residents lead the way in decisions impacting their homes and communities.
Minister for Housing Richard Wynne announced 25 community-led projects supporting residents across the Flemington and North Melbourne public housing precincts would soon begin with funding through the $200,000 Paving the Way Forward Community Grants program.
Projects include:
- $10,000 to deliver a pop-up after-school play program to help with recovery from the social, emotional and developmental impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns and remote learning
- $4,750 for the Resident Skills Development Project, which will offer nationally-recognised training, credentials and valuable volunteer experience to provide pathways to employment
- $4,400 for a digital literacy course for refugee and asylum seeker women to fill the education gap and provide students with practical skills to confidently live, learn, and work.
A new resident action group at the Flemington and North Melbourne precincts will help residents develop solutions to issues identified as priorities by the community, including the COVID-19 response, communications, maintenance, improved community spaces and the delivery of new and improved housing in Flemington.
Community development workers will be employed through community partner organisations in Flemington and North Melbourne to improve access to services and enable residents to be more involved in decisions about their homes and neighbourhood.
The community grants are part of the $7.5 million Paving the Way Forward Program, which is designed to assist public housing residents to achieve improvements in health, education and employment.
As stated by Minister for Housing Richard Wynne
“We are giving public housing residents the power to make decisions about their housing and local neighbourhood.”
“From after-school play programs to digital literacy courses and employment pathways, these programs will ensure public housing residents are not left behind as we recover from the pandemic.”
“We are proud to continue supporting these local community organisations, which know their communities so well, to deliver the services residents need.”
