Social housing offers Mick much more than a home

“It’s a really good place to live and I feel very secure here.”

Twenty minutes down the road from the CBD of Newcastle sits Cardiff. The St Vincent de Paul Society NSW’s presence in the community includes a Return and Earn Depot, retail distribution centre and a social housing complex that has changed the lives of many tenants who call it home.

Mick is just one of those lives positively impacted by social housing.

Living in nearby Charlestown prior to the on-set of COVID, Mick’s health took a turn for the worse.

Drawing down on his superannuation to keep a roof over his head, he turned to the Society’s Matthew Talbot Homelessness Service, where he was offered a three-month stay at the on-site accommodation.

Three weeks later, Mick received the breakthrough he was after when a home at the Society’s social housing complex in Cardiff became available for him and his son.

“It was a big ‘wow’ factor when we walked in. It’s a brand new two-bedroom apartment with an open plan kitchen and living area,” recalls Mick.

“It blew me away, it was just fantastic!”

This connection between Matthew Talbot Newcastle and the Cardiff social housing demonstrates the difference the Society is able to make according to Mark Weber, who manages the tailored support offered as part of the Society’s Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF) properties.

“Vinnies, as a whole, is quite a big organisation and, as such, we have access to a lot of different services within the one organisation,” explains Mark.

“Matthew Talbot being another arm of Vinnies and then contacting us – we let them know that we’ve got properties here.”

The SAHF model, delivered in partnership with the NSW Government, combines housing with wraparound support to help tenants maintain and sustain tenancies.

Support is tailored to the specific needs of tenants as part of a Housing First approach, while the location of the housing is close to public transport and services to connect people to the community.

“I think this illustrates the way that the system can work when it works properly,” says Mark. Life has improved greatly for Mick ever since he moved into his new home.

Where he used to worry about where he would live in a crushing cycle of submitting rental applications only to be rejected, he now feels part of a community where he can enjoy a barbeque or coffee alongside his neighbours.

The Cardiff apartments are even pet-friendly – a rare thing to find in the current rental market – so he’s always with the company of his dog and cat.

“In this day and age, where rents are through the roof, it’s affordable housing. It’s a community, it’s everything that you want in a place to live,” says Mick.