Since it opened in 2020, HammondCare Darlinghurst – which supports older people with complex needs experiencing or at risk of homelessness – has become a safe, comforting and stable home for nearly 130 residents.
An independent assessment by Social Ventures Australia (SVA) showed that for every $1 invested in care for its residents, $2.28 is created in social value.
This results from improved physical health outcomes, greater connection and wellbeing, and less pressure on homelessness services.
Sadly, just as many have missed out on this home and care in that time, because it is almost always full. In Homelessness Week 2024 (5-11 August) it’s a reminder of just how pressing this need is.
The Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) says older people experiencing or at risk of homelessness is one of the fastest growing groups, while also having ‘unique health and welfare vulnerabilities … such as frailty, cognitive impairment and mobility issues’. They are ‘significantly more likely to have functional disabilities, chronic diseases, and other complex physical and mental health.1
But with the opportunity of a safe, stable home and high-level care, residents of our Darlinghurst care home self-report a significant improvement in their health, backed by research showing reduced hospital admissions and clinically-significant improvements in health-related quality of life and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).2
The AIHW also says that older women are increasingly experiencing homelessness in later life, even though this is often invisible because they typically stay with friends, live in their car or in severely overcrowded dwellings.
From its inception, HammondCare Darlinghurst has had a women’s only floor, with all 11 beds currently full, acknowledging the unique challenges, trauma and mental health concerns experienced by older women with an experience of homelessness.
With the AIHW making it clear that ‘access to secure, affordable [our places are fully funded], and age-appropriate housing and support services is required for older men and women’, we have been actively looking for opportunities to replicate the care provided by HammondCare Darlinghurst.
In the meantime, we hope to in the near future open a street-level ‘social club’ at Darlinghurst that further promotes community engagement for residents, but also supports other at-risk older people in the community.
While the provision of a bricks and mortar home in the homelessness hotspot of Darlinghurst is our flagship service, the HammondCare team are on the frontline of support for many other older people facing homelessness.
Through the Care Navigation Service, funded by the Commonwealth and delivered in some regions by HammondCare, dozens of at-risk older people have been assisted.
One example is an older person who was living in a gazebo in a National Park. When our team reached out with support, they asked to be relocated to Sydney to be near their synagogue. Support continued for several months including temporary accommodation, reconnection with family and medical services and, importantly, worship at the synagogue is again possible.
Showing the other side of the risk of homelessness, an older person called the Care Navigation Service to say that in an hour they would be evicted from their home, along with their two adult children with disabilities. Assuming they would spend the night in the car, the client was greatly relieved when the Care Navigation Service located emergency accommodation that evening and, after advocacy and support, permanent and secure accommodation was found within days.
Alongside these and many other examples of care for older people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, our Foundation offers The Care Fund that is continually meeting urgent or ongoing needs for the most vulnerable people in our community.
1. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/homelessness-services/shs-insights/contents/overview-of-shs-client-groups - ‘Older people’
2. O’Connor et al., 'An Australian aged care home for people subject to homelessness: health, wellbeing and cost–benefit', BMC Geriatrics (2023) 23:253