Perth Voice Interactive

ST BART’S has opened its new $1.3 million accommodation for older homeless women—the first of its kind of WA.

The Kensington Street facility has 36 rooms and is located beside key support services for  the vulnerable.

St Bart’s CEO John Berger says women over 55 have become the fastest growing demographic of homeless people in WA.

“We want to fight this by providing temporary accommodation in our new shelter to give these women time to get back on their feet.

“It’s often things like illness or loss of a job which trigger a chain of events that make older women homeless. We want to create a buffer between them and the streets.”

Potential residents include 68-year-old Anne Haydon, evicted from accommodation she shared with her son, and 56-year-old Jennifer Bennett.

Ms Haydon was in debt to the WA housing department and Telstra because her son accumulated debt in her name.

Ms Bennett has brain cancer, is partially deaf and blind, and lives on a disability pension.

She lives in a caravan park in Kingsley and pays $258 a week in rent, but the arrangement is unsuitable because of her health problems.

Mr Berger adds the group hopes to raise $15 million to build around 70 independent living quarters at St Bart’s old Brown Street site.

St Bart’s research shows just under half the 13,000 people classified as homeless in WA are women, and the fastest growing homeless demographic is women 50 and older.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK