Homelessness Week 7-13 August
Unison is one of the largest organisations in Melbourne's West assisting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness with housing support.
Homelessness Week is coordinated by Homelessness Australia (HA) and is used to raise awareness of people experiencing homelessness and the issues these people face. This year's theme is Action and Innovation.
Unison's Private Rental Access Program is one of our programs supporting people to access or sustain affordable private rental.
The program team have a background in private real estate and know the ropes. The success of the Program is the strong relationships developed with private real estate agents and support services, a knowledge of the private rental market legislation and process and how to support people to be in the best position to access affordable private rental and sustain a long term home.
Senior Private Rental Access Worker Donna Waters explains how having a positive attitude, highlighting people's strengths and good character increases confidence and hope. "People are often in despair when we see them. We set them in a positive direction, supporting them from the application and inspection process, lease signing and throughout their tenancy. We discuss and promote their good character which is a huge change, as they tend to have focused on the negative in their lives."
The Program covers all bases fine tuning applications, providing transport to inspections, translators if needed, financial assistance, links to support services and follow up throughout the tenancy.
The Team are passionate about what they do. Private Rental Access Worker Rachel Toseland sums it up. "Using our knowledge and experience in the private sector, we are able to cut through all the roadblocks and work with the agents, agencies and our customers to find and sustain tenancies. At the end of the day I can say "I help individuals and families get out of an awful situation and into their new home, often totally changing their lives". A pretty good outcome all round.
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