Cuchulainn is a resident at Mind Australia’s mental health supported community housing, Haven Mooroopna.
Haven Mooroopna is an integrated social housing and support service delivered in partnership between Mind and The Haven Foundation – a subsidiary of Mind.
The Haven Foundation provides residents with high-quality, long-term housing whilst Mind Australia offers specialised 24/7 mental health support on site to help residents live life to the fullest.
This project was delivered with the support of Homes Victoria as part of our commitment to deliver more than 2,000 mental health supported homes for Victorians who need them.
After receiving a mental health diagnosis in his early 20s, Cuchulainn became all too familiar with the unique challenges of trying to find safe and secure housing whilst living with mental health challenges.
”When these things happen, you lose your footing,” Cuchulainn said.
“Living here, I have a nice new place to call my own. I have friends around me. The staff are very nice and when I'm having a bad day, they are around to help me.”
Cuchulainn was initially nervous about moving into supported housing but has now embraced the community.
”I have been able to get back into my hobbies and enjoy the things that mental illness really pushes away. It has let me re-engage with my life.”
Some of the supports offered by Mind at Haven Mooroopna might seem small, but they make a big difference to their residents.
“Something as simple as helping me to ring my doctor up and get the right help. I’m getting better at doing it by myself, but Haven will help me make the call.”
Trudy Fuller, Mind Australia’s Service Manager at Haven Mooroopna, works closely with residents to foster a community that is safe and nurturing.
“This is their home, and we try to make it as friendly and welcoming as we can.”
Trudy and her team network with agencies including mental health and allied health services to ensure residents have access to the support they need.
”We can offer the community's most vulnerable people safe, secure and affordable housing. Because it is supported, it is helping people develop those living skills, and work to a level of independent function so that they can choose to move on and do it in the community.”
Mind Australia, The Haven Foundation and Homes Victoria are delivering 16 mental health-supported social homes and 30 additional social housing homes in the Mooroopna area.
The 16 mental health supported homes, including Cuchulainn’s, were completed in December 2021. The second stage was completed in December 2023. The Haven Foundation expects to welcome more residents this year.
More homes for Victorians living with mental health challenges
As part of the Victorian Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, Homes Victoria is working with the Department of Health and our community housing partners to deliver more than 2,000 new supported mental health supported housing homes for Victorians living with ongoing mental health challenges.