Following concerns from the Canberra community, a small team of people, together with Father Peter Day of the Corpus Christie Parish in Gowrie, identified the need to look at solutions to address serious problems faced by people in Canberra with long- term enduring mental illness who live in unsuitable accommodation and who were unable to care for themselves without support.
In December 2012, two community workshops facilitated by the team found that there was a great need to establish safe and affordable supported long- term accommodation and high quality care for people in Canberra with enduring mental illness. It was agreed that a supported accommodation facility, or a number of facilities, should be established based on the successful model of HOME in Queanbeyan and tailored to meet the needs of the Canberra community.
In October 2013 the Vision for My Home in Canberra was launched at the Hotel Realm. The Launch was successful with over 100 people from the Canberra community attending. We have made significant progress since we commenced our project and are working hard to achieve our Vision. On 28 February 2014 MyHome in Canberra Inc. (MHIC) was established as a legal entity and an incorporated not for profit association. The MHIC Board has set itself the ambitious and challenging goal of establishing a safe, secure home and providing high quality care for people in Canberra with enduring mental illness. It aims to achieve this goal within two to three years. An outline of the concept for MyHome in Canberra is at Attachment A.
A Strategic Plan has been approved to guide the future development and operation of My Home in Canberra for the next 5 years. The Board has identified a suitable site and negotiations are progressing well to obtaining formal approval to use the St James Uniting Church land at Curtin in Canberra’s south-side as the site for the first MyHome in Canberra facility. Action is being taken to develop and implement innovative and effective Funding, Marketing and Community Engagement Strategies and Plans to generate funds to build and operate My Home in Canberra on a sustainable basis and to enable high quality care and support to be provided to residents.
Comprehensive research has been undertaken into best practice models and an initial draft Model of Care has been developed for review and discussion. Budget submissions have been prepared seeking capital funds from the ACT and Federal Governments to establish the first My Home in Canberra facility. It is estimated that a total of around $6 million dollars in capital funds is required. It is important that My Home in Canberra Inc. receives as much support as possible from the Canberra community and the ACT and Federal Governments to translate our Vision into reality.
We warmly welcome support and assistance from individuals in the Canberra community businesses, colleges, schools, carers, community organisations, and consumers to assist us in moving our project forward. If you are interested in providing support or assistance with providing input into the development of the model of care or assisting with fundraising, , please register your support by completing the online registration form.