Connections Week
This month, in a first for South Australia, Hutt St Centre will lead a team of skilled volunteers from more than 20 partner agencies to connect with every person sleeping rough in the city as part of the Adelaide Zero Project, aimed at achieving ‘functional zero homelessness’ in Adelaide by 2020.
‘Connections Week’, will see 20 outreach teams from May 14-16 in Adelaide’s CBD and North Adelaide to confirm the name of every man and woman sleeping rough. Teams will also collect information to complete vulnerability tests looking at history of homelessness and rough sleeping, mental and physical health, and other risk factors.
More than 30 organisations have committed to the Adelaide Zero Project, which is based on a highly successful approach being rolled out across the United States.
The aim of the Adelaide Zero Project is a collaborative initiative of Hutt St Centre, and the Don Dunstan Foundation, to achieve the goal of ‘functional zero street homelessness’, meaning the number of homeless people in the city on any given night is no greater than housing placement availability.
Preliminary information will be provided at a public briefing hosted by the Don Dunstan Foundation on Thursday May 17. The information collected during Connections Week will be entered into a database to inform the next steps for the Adelaide Zero Project.