Catherine House tops out for women’s safety
A $36 million Adelaide development for women has hit a new milestone, marked on site with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
A $36 million development to Catherine House is one step closer to completion, with the new CBD project reaching a significant milestone marked on site with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
The new eight-storey development of the New Generation Catherine House project reached its full structural height last week as construction looks set to be completed by early next year.
Women accounted for 60 per cent of specialist homelessness service clients across South Australia in June, with Catherine House receiving more than 200 referrals a month.
Older women are the fastest growing group experiencing homelessness, with government data showing this was often due to financial hardship, relationship breakdown and domestic violence.
Designed to provide safe accomodation and crucial support services for women experiencing homelessness, the new development will include 52 new apartments for crisis and longer-term accomodation.
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Each apartment will also have its own private bathroom, kitchen and laundry facilities in a first for residents. The project targeting state government figures showing that 26 per cent of women accessing specialist homelessness services did so due to due to domestic, family and sexual violence.
“Having somewhere safe to go can be the difference between a woman remaining in a violent relationship and having the opportunity to leave. Women should never have to choose one or the other,” Minister for Women Katrine Hildyard said.
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“This new Catherine House will provide much more than a roof over someone’s head. It will provide safety, specialist support and the opportunity for women to heal, recover, rebuild their lives and look toward a better future.
“Every woman deserves to feel and be safe, to live with dignity and to have somewhere secure to call home, a foundation from which she can thrive.”
The new development also includes dedicated education and training spaces, secure outdoor and communal spaces and an on-site Women’s Respite and Recovery Centre.
The new 24/7 facility will allow Catherine House to deliver further support services to residents, including counselling, health and wellbeing support, as well as personal development programs and employment pathways.
Residents will also have access to case management, legal support and financial assistance as part of the new development.
The building will operate as a 24-hour facility overseen by both Catherine House and Housing Choices SA.
Housing Choices Australia CEO Leilani Frew said that the project will make a difference for some of the most vulnerable women in the community.
“Seeing the building take shape brings us one step closer to providing women experiencing homelessness in SA with a safe place to call home and the support they need to move forward,” she said.
“These 52 new homes and the Women’s Centre will bring accommodation, support and services together in a space designed around women’s needs, dignity and wellbeing.
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