Positive Partnerships | Better Together Housing June 2023
Better Together Housing is not a service delivery model of support for women, it is an early intervention model that aims to enhance the choice and methods of support for women experiencing housing insecurity, by providing space and opportunity for them to connect in a safe and secure way. However, housing insecurity is a complex issue impacting people in different ways. Therefore, cultivating local community partnerships with other support services, community groups and resources are essential to the successful promotion and support of our members.
The Soroptimist International Mackay Group have been strong advocates for the Better Together Housing Project since their introduction to the program in late 2022. Since then, they have hosted a fundraising Movie Night event, raising $500 to support Better Together Housing members who might require additional financial support for moving or storage costs.
They also planned, developed, and filmed a series of Frequently Asked Question Videos, based on the types of questions they themselves had when first informed about the program. The Soroptimist group is made up largely of women over 55, so their questions were relevant and important in making sure that their peers in the community had a better understanding of the program. These videos were shared through the Soroptimist Mackay group Facebook page and can be viewed here.
Another valuable partnership is with the Mackay Regional Community Legal Service, who have supported the program through a number of ways including their casual attendance at our meeting for women to informally get legal and tenancy information, being a warm referral for women who enter into a shared housing arrangement and want to ensure their agreement is fair and correct, or who are feeling housing stress due to being treated unfairly and don’t know their rights.
Rikki from MRCLS has also provided a customized education session around the different types of agreements for share housing and has endorsed and explained the BTH co-tenancy agreement document which is available for BTH members from the Better Together Housing website. Rikki put together two factsheets about Share House Agreements and the important steps to take when starting an agreement. These factsheets have been very valuable resources for the women who attended and others when talking about shared housing arrangements.You can download these factsheets via the MRCLC website by clicking on images below
