Rotary Albert Park supporting Community Housing Project
Women over 55 currently sleeping rough or in severe housing stress will be able to seek shelter in new pop-up accommodation in Melbourne’s City of Port Phillip. The aged care facility known as Claremont Home, operated by CaSPA Care, is currently vacant awaiting master planning for redevelopment. The goal is to use the building in the interim to provide housing for women, with the project up and running this week.
This has been managed by Robert Pradolin, a past member of Rotary Albert Park and a property developer, who has used his contacts in the building industry to install a brand new kitchen, cleaned up the garden area and organised brand new lounge chairs. Rotary Albert Park has been involved with the wonderful help of Donations In Kind in providing all linen, dressing gowns, toiletries, as well as supplying bookshelves and books. YWCA, who will manage the building, provided a team of women tradies – unemployed women who have gained trade qualifications – to perform the improvement works.
Robert said while not a solution to homelessness, existing infrastructure could be repurposed for short-term use as crisis or transitional accommodation for those who need it. The property will be subject to a lease with the YWCA until the owner requests it back to begin the redevelopment process. CaSPA Care is making the property available at a peppercorn rent of $1 a year.
See (here) for some photos of the working bee at DIK.