Community Lockers and Laundry

Community Lockers and Laundry

In February 2023 the Rural City of Wangaratta facilitated a forum on housing and homelessness. The forum consisted of participants from various sectors including registered housing organisations, local family violence and homelessness support services, health services, local businesses such as real estate agents and property developers, and Regional Development Victoria. Key actions taken as a result include:

  1. Council developed the Affordable Housing Strategy; this was adopted by the Rural City of Wangaratta in June. The strategy outlines key action areas to generate social, affordable, and key worker accommodation in the region. The plan is available here Affordable Housing Strategy Rural City of Wangaratta
  2. Facilitation of the development of the Ovens College site for social, affordable, and residential housing. This project will provide for a significant increase in housing stock, located close to public transport and amenities.
  3. Development of an action group consisting of local partner agencies was formed to consider short term projects to improve the lives of those experiencing homelessness in Wangaratta. These projects include providing freely accessible lockers, installing community laundries, and producing a pocket card listing local community services.

 

Short-Term Community Lockers

Council partnered with the Wangaratta Night Shelter and a group of students from Wangaratta High School, to assist with the installation of lockers at Apex Park and Wangaratta Showgrounds. The students spoke with people experiencing homelessness and found that many wanted somewhere safe store their belongings during the day. The lockers at Apex Park are available year-round, 24 hours a day. The lockers at the Showgrounds are always available except for a few times a year when major events are using the area.

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Community Laundries

After identifying a need for people experiencing homelessness to clean their clothes, Council negotiated with State Government to allocate some of its home and community care funding to the installation of two free community laundries. The laundries opened in June and are located near the lockers at Apex Park and Wangaratta Showgrounds. Council has installed signage in the laundries which list additional support services available in Wangaratta. The laundries are conveniently situated near free shower facilities, offering easy access to these essential services.

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Helping hand cards

These cards list key information about local support services in a handy pocketable size.
The listed services include housing & shelter, family violence help, health, food, internet, showers, and laundry.
The cards are available from Customer Service in the Government Centre and participating local businesses and services.

 

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