Thank you so much for signing our petition. We are at just over 5,000 signatures.
After meeting with the VBA last week, we were promised a letter, followed by the issuing of a 'practice note' which should advise building surveyors of a reasonable, achievable application of building regulations. Although shelters are mostly finished for this winter, right now others are planning for next year. We feel a sense of urgency and will keep speaking up until we get an outcome that works.
Councils and churches continue to invite us to speak about our project and are interested in replicating this community response to homelessness in their areas. Just yesterday we were in Hastings at the invitation of Mornington Peninsula Shire speaking with council officers, councillors, community members and pastors.
Stable One is ready to launch the Winter Shelter Network. We are positioned to resource and support churches across Australia to work together to fulfil the vision God gave us to offer more than a place to stay to the most vulnerable members of our communities. We have buildings and we have people who have the ability to practically make a small difference in the life of someone experiencing homelessness. We need the VBA's response so that we can get on with it.
We acknowledge that winter shelters meet a need but don't solve a problem. There is way more to do, not least continuing to lobby our governments at all levels to build housing. Public housing wait times can be 10-20 years, 2-3 years for people who are considered a priority. This is not good enough. 3,000 new houses would need to be built every year for the next 10 years in Victoria to deal with the problem. Check out https://everybodyshome.com.au/ to find out five things we can ask the government to do to fix the problem.