An unused Church in Nambour will soon be re-purposed to house and support 21 homeless youth. 

The $3.2 million project will re-purpose the former Church and classroom facility to include 22 fully furnished rooms (21 for youth one for an onsite caretaker) complete with an ensuite, basic cooking facilities and a study area with access to shared kitchen, dining and fitness facilities set across two levels. 

Integrated Family and Youth Service (IFYS) will use a Federal funding boost to provide a suite of care and support services for young people onsite at ‘the Church’ youth homeless shelter. 

The $790,834 announcement was made recently by Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien.

Mr O’Brien said the funding will be life-changing for hundreds of Sunshine Coast youth who find themselves in difficult situations. 

“This Church, which once provided important spiritual guidance, will now provide a fresh start for at-risk youth, who often due to no fault of their own, have found themselves in the terrible situation of being homeless,” he said. 

“This announcement of $790,834 will provide around-the-clock, onsite wrap-around support for residents of the new homeless centre with a particular focus on ‘learning and earning’ activities that strengthen a young person’s employment options.” 

“It’s no secret that the Sunshine Coast property boom, coupled with increased cost of living pressures, is putting pressure on many families and making it difficult to find affordable accommodation options.” 

The Church project will build on IFYS’s existing support for youth homelessness, already managing a frontline six bed emergency shelter on the Sunshine Coast. 

Team Leader of Accommodation Services for IFYS, Tania Larter said IFYS was incredibly grateful to receive the funding. “This funding will make a huge difference to us being able to support young people in housing crisis.

“It will change the life trajectory of young people. We have seen after 40 years of working with disadvantaged young people, the impact one caring adult can have on their future, their increased confidence to succeed and realise their dreams. 

“The model will see highly skilled therapeutic case workers supporting young people with their personal goals, developing their independent living skills and role modelling positive behaviours.” 

Ms Larter said the grant would enable IFYS to provide training for residents of the church with a particular focus on workplace pathways. 

Incorporating an integrated model of support, the program will provide education and training over six key areas: education; social connections, civic participation; employment; housing and living skills and health and wellbeing. 

An onsite training room will be built which will enable IFYS to deliver qualification courses focused on strengthening employment options to provide the youth with independent transition plans. 

Additionally, transport will be provided to enable young people to continue to access off- site education and training options. 

When complete, the project aims to provide over 7,281 nights of accommodation annually with an emphasis on transitioning tenants into new independent living situations. 

The Federal Government funding will pay for the operational aspects of the program with an additional $1.2 million required to finalise the initial infrastructure costs. 

Construction will begin within months, despite not having reached their overall fundraising goal. 

“To date we have raised a substantial amount of the funds required to ensure we can undertake this new accommodation project, but we are still lacking resources for the final stage of furnishing,” Ms Larter said. 

To donate go to www.ifys.com.au and  the Donations tab. For information email admin@ifys.com.au.