A “Pop-Up” for Social Good: Uniting Opens Temporary Sydney Shelter for Older Women

Older women represent a growing cohort of our homeless population, with a lack of permanent housing forcing many women to live a transient life in caravan parks, on friends’ lounges or on the streets.

Fortunately, Uniting – the service arm of the Uniting Church – has devised an innovative solution to the issue here in Sydney.  They’ve opened a “pop-up” shelter in one of their vacant properties, which is slated for redevelopment as a retirement/affordable housing site in 2019.  Instead of letting the building sit empty, it is now home to a group of women over 45 years of age who would otherwise be homeless.

Uniting’s Director of Property & Housing Simon Furness had a chat with Tess about making use of vacant living spaces and setting up pop-ups for social good.