MyHome in Canberra is a not-for-profit association, formed in 2014 through community initiative and subsequently incorporated. Our aim is to provide people who have enduring mental illnesses with affordable homes that are more safe and supportive than normal housing.
Recent data indicates that up to 85 per cent of homeless people in the ACT suffer from at least one mental disorder. MyHome in Canberra is aimed especially at people whose mental illnesses make them homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Since 2014 MyHome in Canberra has had a management committee comprising people with a range of skills, experience and contacts. Committee members have developed links with the Mental Health Consumers’ Network, Carers ACT, Wellways Australia, Woden Rotary Club and other community groups, as well as the ACT Government.
MyHome in Canberra is intended to complement, not replace or compete with, existing services.
- Even with the services provided by the ACT Government for people with mental illnesses, and its current plans for expanding several of them, it is virtually certain there will remain an overall shortage of suitable supported accommodation.
- The model of care which MyHome in Canberra has adopted represents a kind of accommodation with greater independence than small-group homes in which kitchens and living areas are shared, and with more security than independent low‑cost units.