Kira House Partnership
12 August 2011
Support for vulnerable young people boosted by new
partnership
St John of God Health Care is delighted to
announce increased support for young people in the Midland area
through a new three-year partnership with Hills Community Support
Group including funding for a new youth case worker.
The partnership will help Hills Community
Support Group’s Kira House service support girls and young women
aged 14 to 18 years old who have experienced serious domestic
violence.
St John of God Health Care’s commitment of
more than $300,000 increases its existing contribution to Social
Outreach and Advocacy services for young people in Western
Australia, including accommodation and support through Horizon
House and various other youth mental health initiatives.
The partnership will provide residential
support for vulnerable young women who are unable to access stable
accommodation and ensure that young women and their children are
supported once they move on from Kira House into transitional
housing.
Mike Board, Group Manager for Youth at St John
of God Health Care, said: “Our Social Outreach and Advocacy
services aim to improve health and wellbeing in the community. We
are really pleased to partner with Hills Community Support Group
because they have a proven track record of meeting the needs of
local people.”
“Kira House is a vital service for very
vulnerable young women and girls who need accommodation and
support, which has a similar ethos to our own Horizon House
service. We believe that the case worker position funded as part of
this partnership will have a positive impact by empowering young
people to have a safer, more independent future,” Mr Board
added.
Megan Richards, Manager of Youth Services at
Hills Community Support Group, said: “This new partnership with St
John of God Health Care will help us support girls and young women
when they are most vulnerable. Sadly, many young people are
affected by domestic violence and therefore suffer through very
unstable living arrangements. We expect to support more than 120
young women each year as a result of this new partnership.”
As well as being Western Australia’s largest
private health care group, St John of God Health Care is also a
significant provider of public health care, and various
community-based Social Outreach and Advocacy services which aim to
improve the health and wellbeing of people in communities across
Western Australia.
In Western Australia alone, St John of God
Health Care supports young people through:
- Horizon House – five homes in WA providing
long-term accommodation and support for young people aged 16 to 22
who do not have a permanent place to live or may be at risk of
homelessness.
- DAWN Youth – drug and alcohol support for
young people aged 12 to 25 in the south metro region of Perth.
- Murdoch Community Mental Health – counselling
and support services including culturally appropriate support for
Aboriginal young people.
- South West Community Drug Service Team –
providing drug and alcohol services across the southwest of Western
Australia, based in Bunbury.
- Eating disorders liaison – support for young
people with eating disorders in rural and remote parts of the
southwest from Bunbury.
- headspace – St John of God Health Care is a
consortium partner in Fremantle headspace and is working with
various other headspace centres across Australia with a specific
focus on mental health triage.
Social Outreach and Advocacy services operated
by St John of God Health Care draw on the heritage of our founders,
the Sisters of St John of God who came to Western Australia in
1895. The organisation has been delivering health care to Western
Australians for more than 116 years.