Homelessness support hub opens

The Peninsula Support Hub has been officially opened, with volunteers serving breakfast to people in need for the first time in the facility this morning which will be home to The Breakfast Club Redcliffe and The Salvation Army.

Shortly after the first breakfast service, Her Excellency Queensland Governor Dr Jeannette Young, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie and Moreton Bay City Council Mayor Peter Flannery officially opened the $6.7 million facility.

Purpose built for The Breakfast Club Redcliffe and The Salvation Army, the hub will offer case management, housing referrals, meal services, laundry and shower facilities, and social connection for vulnerable people.

Council’s contribution was $3.7 million and the State Government chipped in $3 million from its South East Queensland Community Stimulus Program (SEQCSP).

The centre is at the corner of Portwood St and Oxley Avenue, Redcliffe.

There has been a push for a homelessness support hub and emergency accommodation on the Redcliffe Peninsula for more than 15 years, but a surge in the number of people sleeping rough promoted action in late 2023 when the project was announced.

Work started on the hub in June 2024 under the previous Labor State Government.

Her Excellency said the facility would deliver hope to people in need and tangible help.

“This bright, spacious new hub we meet in today does not just provide the basic essentials such as a warm meal, bathroom and laundry facilities, and a congruent to specialist support services but also delivers compassion, understanding, dignity and a deep sense of human connection to people from all walks of life who find themselves at that stage in life in difficulty,” she said.

Her Excellency said homelessness could affect anyone in the community, causing long-term stress and anxiety.

“That is why facilities such as this one here, embedded in the heart of the community, are so important.”

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said 35 people visited the hub for the first breakfast service.

“The Crisafulli Government is delivering a place to call home for more Queenslanders and this hub will provide critical wrap-around support services for the most vulnerable in our community,” Deputy Premier Bleijie said.

“This is exactly the kind of project our investment is meant to support; a practical, community-led solution that delivers real help to people in need.

“Partnering with City of Moreton Bay on this facility means more Queenslanders will have access to the right support, in the right place, at the time they need it most.

“We have invested many millions of dollars in this region in homelessness services. As planning Minister, every week, I sign new Ministerial Infrastructure Designations for affordable homes and social homes, and we’ve got a lot more work to do in this space … I can assure you of that.”

‘Queensland first’

Moreton Bay City Council Mayor Peter Flannery said the facility and level of collaboration was likely a Queensland first.

“Homelessness, probably since COVID, has exploded. We’ve got huge population growth in the City of Moreton Bay … over 240 people a week, every week, moving here for the next 25-30 years,” Mayor Flannery said.

“With that population growth, homelessness is going to grow as well. We need solutions for that issue, we need more accommodation. We don’t want people sleeping in parks. It’s the worst place for them to be.

“There is social and affordable housing coming – it’s about 3-5 years away. Crisis accommodation is that missing gap that we see day in, day out. People who need a roof over their heads tonight … there is nowhere for them to go other than a motel room.

“That’s the State Government and Federal Government’s responsibility to find that solution and we’re happy to support any ideas they’ve got. That part is missing in this jigsaw puzzle.”

Mayor Flannery said the minister’s advisory group sub-committee has been formed with mayors coming together with the Housing Department and service providers last week.

“We’re putting the problems that we’ve got to the State Government and saying councils are here to work with them to find solutions … it’s not our responsibility to find those solutions, it’s their responsibility but we’re here to work with them to provide that to the community and the need is getting greater and greater each day,” he said.

“It (the problem) will be there until we can find those short-term solutions but also the long-term solutions in the pipeline of housing and social and affordable housing that’s coming. Everyone needs to put their shoulder to the wheel.”

A place to call home

The Breakfast Club Redcliffe Chairperson Michelle Gilchrist said arriving this morning and serving breakfast to the hub’s first guests was a special moment.

“It was heartwarming this morning. I was the first one here … to come in, open the door, turn the lights on and know that we were actually home … that we had a place that we could call home now … the volunteers, the excitement level was high. They’ve never had such a big space to work in,” Michelle said.

“The guests coming in… they were a bit overwhelmed at first because it’s not quite what they’re used to. They decided this morning it was wonderful and their comments were … ‘we’ll make it ours’.

“That’s the next bit that needs to come to make it feel more like home.

“It’s something we’ve been hoping for, for 10-15 years that the community has needed and we’ve always needed a home. This (facility) provides both of those.”

The hub will increase the organisation’s capacity to produce meals for people in need and opportunities to connect with each other and the services that will help them.

“The need is very great. People are struggling right now.”

The Breakfast Club will be serving breakfast Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7-8am, and drop-in on Tuesday and Thursday from 9am-1pm with dinner from 4.30-5.30pm.

The Salvation Army Community Development Officer Amelia (Milly) Nixon said the hub was not just for people experiencing homelessness but for anyone in the community.

“It takes all of us as a community to come together and support one another,” she said.

She said the services on offer would be tailored to the needs of the community. The Salvation Army will have a concierge and case managers to provide interim support. There will be three or four staff onsite each day.

From August 7, people in need can just turn up for assistance from 8.30am-4.30pm, Monday to Friday.