“The Board of The Ian Potter Foundation was very impressed with the vision of this project and the strong partnership with the homeless services.” – Alberto Furlan, The Ian Potter Foundation

We are excited to announce our new partnership with Launch Housing to deliver health and legal services from within their crisis accommodation sites, in a proof of concept project called The Road Home.

There are six critical support elements that together form the best-practice model for delivery of mental health and addiction care at one site:  addiction treatment, mental health treatment, legal support, social inclusion support, meaningful engagement and housing. 

First Step provides all but housing because we acknowledge that the provision of housing services differs significantly from the other elements, and that many of our local community partners are already doing exceptional work. 

Kicking off in mid-October  at Launch Housing East St Kilda,   the Road Home Project will bring a First Step GP, mental health nurse and lawyer directly into crisis housing for a weekly clinic.

Over the two years of this project, we anticipate:

• Approximately 100 highly vulnerable people each year experiencing a circuit breaker in the rotating door of crisis accommodation, moving away from crisis and illness and into stability.
• Healthier clients with improved physical and mental health and control over drug/substance use.
• Happier clients with increased motivation to participate in socio-economic life, better able to manage their own medical, legal and housing needs, having trusting relationships with medical and legal staff, developing life, parenting and employment skills and growing support networks.
• A long-term reduction in the number of hospital admissions, interactions with the criminal justice system, and further reliance on the housing sector, which will in turn reduce waiting lists for emergency accommodation.
• A wide appreciation for the new model and a desire to replicate or emulate this model more broadly.

This project has been made possible by the philanthropic support of The Ian Potter Foundation, The Jack Brockhoff Foundation, The Marian & E.H. Flack Trust, The Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, and the Spencer Gibson Foundation.