Fusion Village

Model of Care

It Takes a Village to raise a child

We need to create that village for young families experiencing homelessness.

Accommodation

Purposefully designed for community living with 6 villas, a communal kitchen and activities space, lead-tenant house, sensory garden and play spaces. The service offers four, two bedroom villas and two, three bedroom villas.

Each villa contains its own living space, bathroom and kitchenette with access to communal laundries. Designed to promote community engagement, the villas are centred around a Families Centre and play areas.

The development will be situated on the existing land surrounding Fusion’s current youth housing service located in a quiet costal town. Walking distance to amenities including maternal and child health services, preschools and a short trip to early learning centres and larger shopping hub.

Support

The Village will provide stability and the opportunity for families to learn.

This unique program provides therapeutic live-in care which enables vulnerable young families to be supported in a safe and therapeutic home. With a live in family providing 24/7 support, role modelling healthy family dynamics and building relationships. Through additional one on one case work and advocacy, young families are supported to work towards their self-identified goals, continued personal development and connected and taught how to navigate the services they need.

Young parents aged 16 to 24 and their children will be able to stay here for 18 – 24 months, accessing the services through homelessness entry points. It’s a reminder that for complex needs there are no easy fixes.

This program provides the most important intervention these young families need: stable housing combined with individualized support and education. The young mothers are supported through antenatal and post-natal care, parenting, nutrition, and early childhood care with supports like specialist parenting courses available.

Young parents are supported to learn essential life and parenting skills, preparing them for the transition to independent living and the future they want for their family.

The Fusion Village will provide life-changing results for two generations at once, supporting vulnerable young parents and their new-born babies.

Model of Care

Young parents and their children who grow up experiencing trauma and homelessness often struggle with physical and mental health, developmental stages, education attainment and employment. Often these young people struggle to form healthy, trusting relationships, limiting the individual’s outlook and involvement in life. The Fusion Model of Care is a therapeutic approach that identifies and holistically responds to these complex needs of young people and their children.

Integrating trauma-informed practice, attachment theory and the philosophy that all people have a fundamental need for community and purpose, Fusion’s programs create a holistic therapeutic environment in which the mental and physical wellbeing and social and emotional capacities of young people are developed and enriched. Fusion’s programs seek to connect residents to networks in the community, and engage them with their own internal narrative and a wider sense of belonging and achievement.

In the Fusion Village program, each young parent is supported across four key areas:

1. Health and Wellbeing
2. Life and parenting Skills
   Providing young people with the skills they need to create a safe and healthy environment for their children and themselves. Additionally, teaching parenting skills from a values and boundaries framework to help support these young families to thrive.A vital part of Fusion’s Housing and Support service is their Lifeskills program that all young people living onsite are a part of. This includes development of skills such as cleaning, healthy eating, preparing food, personal hygiene, personal presentation, healthy social interactions such as respecting diverse peoples, acquiring a driving licence through L’s to P’s, budgeting and managing personal physical and mental health. Each young person has different lifeskill support needs, our program is designed to identify those needs and support each individual in their development with mentoring and goal setting.

   Fusion’s Families parenting course, endorsed by Steve Biddulph has a more than 25 year history of supporting and encouraging parents in building strong and thriving families. Originally developed and implemented in western Sydney, the Families Course has since been shared across Australia. The Families Course will be delivered to participants as part of the housing program.

3. Belonging and community engagement
   Connecting a young person to a community creates spaces to develop a sense of belonging and social skills.
   Fusion’s program seeks to connect residents to networks in the community, and engage them with their own internal narrative and a wider sense of belonging and achievement.
4. Education and Vocation
   Helping young parents to re-engage in education, training or employment and appropriate child care. Through local service partnerships, young parents will have the opportunity to complete their VCAL and participate in employability skills training.

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