Model
of care
It takes a village to raise a child and we’re committed to creating that village for young families experiencing homelessness.
Accommodation
Purpose-designed for community living, with six villas, a communal kitchen and activities space, lead-tenant house, sensory garden and play spaces, the service will offer two-bedroom and three-bedroom homes.
Each villa will contain its own living space, bathroom, and kitchenette with access to communal laundries. Designed to promote community engagement, the villas will be set around a Families Centre and play areas.
The development will be situated on land surrounding Fusion’s existing youth accommodation service, all within walking distance of amenities, including maternal and child health services, preschools and a short trip to early learning centres and larger shopping hub.
Support for
families
The Village will provide stability and the opportunity for families to learn.
This unique program will provide live-in support and care, enabling vulnerable young families to be live in a safe and therapeutic home. A live-in family will provide round the clock support, role modelling healthy family dynamics and building relationships. Through additional one on one casework and advocacy, young families will be supported to work towards their self-identified goals and connected with and taught to navigate the services they need.
Young parents aged 16 to 24 and their children will be able to stay for eighteen to twenty-four months, accessing the services through homelessness entry points. It’s a reminder that for complex needs there are no easy fixes.
This program will provide the most important intervention these young families need: stable housing, combined with individualized support and education. The young mothers will be supported through antenatal and post-natal care, parenting, nutrition, and early childhood care with resources including specialist parenting courses available.
Support will be provided for young parents to learn essential life and parenting skills, preparing them for the transition to independent living and the future they want for their family.
The Fusion Village will provide life-changing results for two generations at once, supporting vulnerable young parents and their new-born babies.
Model
of care
Young parents and their children who grow up experiencing trauma and homelessness often struggle with physical and mental health, to move through regular developmental stages, to complete their education or secure employment. Forming healthy, trusting relationships is a challenge and they have a limited outlook on life or hope for their future. The Fusion model of care is a therapeutic approach that identifies and holistically responds to the complex needs of young people and their children.
Integrating trauma-informed practice, attachment theory and the philosophy that all people have a fundamental need for community and purpose, Fusion programs create a holistic therapeutic environment in which the mental and physical wellbeing and the social and emotional capacities of young people are developed and enriched. Fusion’s programs seek to connect residents to networks in the community, engage them with their own internal narrative and help them to develop a wider sense of belonging and achievement.
In the Fusion Village program, each young parent will receive support across four key areas.
1. Health and Wellbeing
2. Life and Parenting Skills
Providing young people with the skills they need to create a safe and healthy environment for their children and themselves. Additionally, teaching parenting skills from a values and boundaries framework to help support these young families to thrive.
A vital part of Fusion’s Housing and Support Service is their Life-skills program, that all young people living onsite participate in. This includes development of skills such as cleaning, healthy eating, preparing food, personal hygiene, personal presentation, healthy social interaction, acquiring a driving licence, budgeting and managing personal physical and mental health. Each young person has different life-skill support needs and receives personalised mentoring to set and achieve their goals.
Fusion’s Families parenting course, endorsed by psychologist and author, Steve Biddulph, has a thirty-year history of supporting and encouraging parents to build strong and thriving families. Originally developed in the western suburbs of Sydney, Fusion has since delivered this valuable training to parents across Australia and around the world. The Families Course will be delivered to participants as part of the housing program.
3. Belonging and Community Engagement
Connecting a young person to a community creates spaces to develop both a sense of belonging and real-world social skills.
Fusion’s program seeks to connect residents to networks in the community and engage them with their own internal narrative and a wider sense of belonging and achievement.
4. Education and Vocation
We are committed to helping young parents re-engage in education, training or employment and to access appropriate child-care. Through local service partnerships, young parents will have the opportunity to complete their VCAL and participate in employability skills training as needed.
