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Riverside Drive to Home Report

This evaluation was undertaken to inform Micah Projects Inc’s reflections on its work practices with homeless people in the context of a hot spot. It is based on interviews with homeless people, Micah Projects’ Street to Home service staff and the Mater Community Clinical Nurse based at the Brisbane Homelessness Service Centre. The evaluation was funded by Micah Projects.

Overview

The following information, mostly provided by Street to Home personnel, outlines what took place between April 2008 and July 2008 in relation to relocating 58 homeless people from Riverside Drive, South Brisbane.

To summarise, Micah Projects, through its Street to Home service, worked closely with most of these people who were advised that the Queensland Police Service would be exercising Move On powers and the site cleared by Brisbane City Council. Preparation for the intervention began before April 2008 and Street to Home is still working to house and support many of these people at the time of writing this report in August 2008. The scope of the evaluation however is for the period of 7 April 2008 when the lead worker commenced on site, to 25 July 2008.

$120,000 was provided by the Queensland Department of Communities for wages, operating costs and brokerage in two instalments to cover a six month period. $20,000 and three rental houses were made available by Brisbane City Council. These resources were to supplement the pre-existing Street to Home and Brisbane Homeless Service Centre’s capacity to mount a crisis response and attempt to find pathways for people into sustainable, medium to long term supported housing.

The Street to Home team engaged intensely at the site and then increasingly with individuals and household groups in a range of locations across Brisbane. Police also had a constant presence at Riverside Drive. The Mater Health Services Community Clinical Nurse worked closely with three individuals who had serious health problems and injuries.

The majority of people at Riverside Drive expressed anger, even rage about the situation. Dealing with this was very challenging for workers, especially the front line Assessment and Referral and Street to Home teams at the Brisbane Homelessness Service Centre.

By the 25 July, after four months of focused effort, homeless people were not living at the Riverside Drive area and of the 58 people Street to Home had worked with:

• 26 people were in temporary accommodation (Pindari, Roma House, Oz Care, boarding houses and caravan parks)
• 15 people were in long term housing (8 in Brisbane City Council houses, 7 in Department of Housing and community managed properties)
• 14 people left without requesting or accepting assistance and were not in contact
• 3 people were still homeless and in regular contact with Street to Home.