News
Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation announces million dollar funding for homelessness program
August 8, 2011
Today the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation continued its commitment to reducing homelessness in Melbourne. The Foundation will provide a grant of $1,000,000 to fund The Salvation Army’s ‘24/7 Melbourne’s Road Home’ – an outreach response program helping people who are homeless.
Together with the $876,000 grant the Foundation provided to The Salvation Army to launch ‘24/7’, it is the largest commitment to a homelessness program that the Foundation has made in its 88-year history.
First launched in November 2009 ‘24/7’ assists people experiencing homelessness in Melbourne’s CBD. Any person can call the 1800 hotline number to either ask for help or to alert The Salvation Army’s outreach team responds to a person they believe requires assistance or is sleeping rough.
More than 300 people have been assisted in the past 18 months, with 3,120 calls received by the crisis response team from people calling the hotline’s 1800 number.
24/7 hotline 1800 266 686 489
Director of Development Shane Austin said that the Foundation’s commitment to work with major welfare agencies to reduce homelessness in Melbourne positioned the Foundation as a leader in the philanthropic sector.
“The 24/7 program has proven to be very successful and has earned the support of Victoria Police, businesses, residents and the City of Melbourne.
“We’re committed to supporting and empowering the lives of vulnerable and marginalised people in our community. This funding will enable 24/7 outreach team to respond to the immediate needs of a person who is homeless and connect them into a network of ongoing support by The Salvation Army and other partner agencies.
“We are very pleased to be able to partner with The Salvation Army and commend them for the outstanding services and care they are providing to people who are experiencing hardship or homelessness,” added Shane.
“The Salvation Army is grateful for the ongoing support of Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, the 24/7 outreach response is an important service for homeless and at risk members of our community and has provided vital support since launch,” said Major Graeme Rigley, Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army Melbourne Central Division.
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