Alice Springs
Transformation Plan

Some 70 people gathered at the Aherlkeme Transitional Accomodation Village in Percy Court last week to celebrate the work undertaken by tenants to complete their Life Skills Program.

The program is run by Mission Australia and deals with rent and money management, personal hygiene and home care and maintenance of property and provides tenants with an opportunity to develop the skills they need to transition to public housing and maintain a good tenancy.

Tenants receive a certificate of achievement upon completion of the program, which also covers social wellbeing and visitor management. This certificate accompanies a report to Territory Housing to support the tenant’s application for public housing.

This is the first time a group of tenants will transition from Alherkeme Village to their own public housing tenancy.

One of the tenants who completed the program is a young mother of three who has been living at Aherlkeme since May this year. Mission Australia Senior Social Worker Chris Cole said that the tenant had worked solidly to complete the program so she can provide a safe and healthy environment for her children.  This is her story:

"The staff support and their willingness to help has really made it easy to live here. It has been a good place for me and my kids, especially to give them a roof over their heads instead of living under other family and friend’s roofs.

I think the most important help I received was building my knowledge about accessing certain things like services to support my kids, and how to get help to save and buy white goods like a washing machine, fridge and beds for my kids.

I used to work, but when I had kids this all stopped and I found it hard to keep going and was more or less homeless.

But, now I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life and where I want to be in the next five years of my life and that will help me bring my kids up too."

This is an inspirational story for others who may experience similar hardships. This young mother is now looking forward to getting back into work and studying, and has already booked her children into childcare to pursue studies in the coming year.

The Alherkeme Transitional Housing facility is made up of 28 dwellings which can accommodate up to 79 people on the Territory Housing waitlist who are identified as being homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

The facility is managed by Mission Australia who provide clients with support to develop the skills and knowledge needed to sustain a public or private housing tenancy. For more information phone 8955 6600.