Celebrating working with the community over the past 4 years.
In 2013, Mission Australia Housing became responsible for the management of approximately 500 social homes in the suburbs of Clarendon Vale and Rokeby (Clarence Plains). Since then we have been listening to the community and helping to facilitate their vision for the future.
Under the warm Autumn sun, balloons, banners and a gourmet BBQ popped up as the community and staff welcomed Members of Parliament and politicians, property developers and community partners to join in the festivities. Local school students handed out bottles of water and Anniversary cake while community partners provided demonstrations at the pop-up milk crate expo.
Over the past 4 years we have discovered a strong and resilient community who are passionate about showcasing what is great about Clarence Plains and passionate about creating the best future for their families.
As a part of this journey a 15 year community master plan has been created, the community has developed their own identity – Clarence Plains, and a leadership group called One Community Together has been established. In our role as Community Housing Provider we are intimately involved with One Community together who bring together the community and almost every service provider, school and church in Clarence Plains to progress an agenda to create a safer place to live.
Mission Australia Housing Executive, Chris Bratchford praised the support tenants provide: “We appreciate the fantastic support, advice and feedback we regularly receive from tenants – this has really helped us to continue to provide housing services and support that recognise this unique place and provide the best opportunity for individuals and families to thrive and then contribute back to their community. It is a privilege for us to work with such a range of talented and committed people.
In particular, the Resident Steering Committee has consistently provided wise counsel for us over the past few years and has helped Mission Australia Housing understand the key issues affecting the community, guided strategies to improve tenancy and property management and provided advice on many, many aspects of the work including proposed publications and the shape of community projects.”
As a testament to all our work with the community of Clarence Plains was Mission Australia Housing’s office move that coincided with the 4 year anniversary celebrations.
“As our work grew so did our team. Funding from the Department of Social Services and a private donor assisted us to appoint additional community development staff. We also now engage two student placements each year – one from TAFE and one from the University.”
“The old office was no longer practical as we out grew it with the number of community projects and initiatives we have now taken on, whilst at the same time maintaining property, asset and tenancy management services. With the extra meeting space we will be better able to serve our tenants and community partners and invite the community in for project meetings and training which was not possible in the previous office. We are pleased to have grown the team to better support both individuals and the community to reach their potential”, Chris Bratchford said.
Importantly, our old office has been reinvested back to the community and converted into a residence that will be accessible to people and families with disability.
For us at Mission Australia Housing, we play a much wider role in communities than just housing people. Taking a place-based approach, we seek to make people, families and communities more engaged, connected and resilient.
Bringing the day to an end, prizes of pot plants, vouchers, vegie boxes and even a bike were awarded to lucky community participants. Leaving with smiles on their faces and a true sense of pride, it was clear that the community has achieved much in just 4 years in to the master plan. We look forward to the next 11 years and on!
