Zero Project
Ruah is proud to be part of the Zero Project – Housing First Coordination for WA, which supports communities to use a Housing First approach to work collaboratively to reduce, and ultimately end, rough sleeping and chronic homelessness.
The Zero Project was built on the success of the innovative 50 Lives 50 Homes project, and from inception, with Ruah as backbone support, it focussed on bringing together all the various support services needed to wrap around people experiencing homelessness and help them to make meaningful change in their lives – with housing as the first step.
Into the future, Zero Project is led by the WA Alliance to End Homelessness (WAAEH) with Ruah remaining a committed and dedicated partner organisation, providing much needed housing and homelessness support and services across the Perth metropolitan area, Geraldton, Mandurah, Bunbury and Rockingham.
One of the important elements of the Zero Project is the use of an Advance to Zero methodology that counts down the number of people needing housing as opposed to counting the number of people housed.
The incredible work of the Zero Project to-date, in particular the establishment of the By Name List which provides quality, reliable data for the first time to track and quantify homelessness, has been achieved with the combined team effort of all the project partners and has been made possible with funding from the State Government’s Housing First Homelessness Initiative, with supplementary funding from Lotterywest.
You can find the Zero Project website at zeroprojectwa.org.au.
Please note – individuals cannot refer themselves to the Zero Project. If you think you may be eligible, speak to your support worker or drop in to the Ruah Engagement Hub.