The Mental Health Association of Central Australia is pleased to announce the beginning of a new intensive support and housing program CLOAC – Collaborative Living on Arrernte Country.
The pilot program is targeted to assist people with mental health difficulties who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in Alice Springs. The program will start in September 2020 and had its first stakeholder meeting this week.
The MHACA program will be a collaborative approach with clinical mental health services and housing providers to support people with mental illness to obtain suitable housing and provide wrap around care including clinical and psychosocial supports. The program will be similar in aims and structure to the Housing Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI) program currently being delivered in Darwin but at a smaller scale.
MHACA is a specialist psychosocial recovery and mental health promotion organisation. We strive to make a difference in the lives of people with a mental illness by supporting participant-driven mental health recovery and assisting communities and organisations to actively improve their mental health and well-being.
“MHACA is excited to partner with the Central Australia Health Service, housing providers and community stakeholders to deliver this exciting initiative.
We will be working with some of the most vulnerable members of our community to provide them with the opportunity to stabilise their housing with integrated support as the first and crucial step to their recovery. Evidence tell us that housing stability is a key factor in transforming mental health, which then enables people to focus on recovery.
MHACA is well placed to lead this project. We will draw on our local knowledge and the lessons learned in the Darwin HASI pilot to design an approach that meets the needs of people with mental health difficulties in Alice Springs.”
Merrilee Cox, MHACA CEO
