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A safe haven: Sydney aged care home finds new purpose as pop-up homeless shelter

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Uniting has converted an empty aged care home in the inner city into a shelter for women aged 45 and over while the property waits to be demolished and redeveloped into retirement living early next year.

One of the rooms at the shelter. Credit: Uniting

Around 30 of the facility’s rooms were given a makeover with second-hand furniture donated from a large hotel chain. The YWCA also donated a television for the common lounge area.

The shelter only began taking in residents in March, but it’s already making a real difference with three women moving onto more permanent housing in either social or affordable housing.

Sadly older women make up a growing but often ‘hidden’ proportion of our homeless population and there are fewer affordable housing options available for women.

Great then to see providers doing their bit to help.

Lauren is a journalist for villages.com.au, agedcare101 and The Donaldson Sisters. Growing up in a big family in small town communities, she has always had a love for the written word, joining her local library at the age of six months. With over eight years' experience in writing and editing, she is a keen follower of news and current affairs with a nose for a good story.


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