Minister visits refurbished Vincentian House

Tanya Plibersek today visited the refurbished Vincentian House in the inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, which provides accommodation and services for homeless families with children.

Ms Plibersek commended St Vincent de Paul and the staff and volunteers at Vincentian House for their commitment and dedication to help women and children through times of great need.

“Vincentian House is a vibrant, modern facility that provides indoor and outdoor areas for children to play and parents to relax,” Ms Plibersek said.

“This service is a great example of the ‘no wrong door’ integrated service approach to helping homeless families outlined in the Rudd Government’s White Paper on Homelessness.

“It is pleasing to see homelessness services doing more than just providing accommodation by offering connections to other services such as Centrelink, counsellors and legal aid.

“The facility also caters for the interests of teenagers, with a separate media room, and delivers a Kids Engaged in Education Program to help break the cycle of homelessness.

“This program encourages children to stay in school through tutoring, educates parents as role models and promotes healthy living.

“A key element of the Homelessness White Paper is the need to improve and expand services – Vincentian House and St Vinnies are doing exactly that.”