Save Our Services - Help Detour House Help Women in Need

On Sunday, September 21st, I will be running the 42.2 kilometre Sydney marathon, to raise money for Detour House.

Detour House is a refuge in Sydney which helps young women and girls at risk of homelessness. Recent changes to the way women's services are funded in New South Wales mean that places like Detour House may have even less support from the Governments they rely on to operate.

Women's services in New South Wales desperately need more funding.

Domestic violence is the leading cause of death and injury in Australian women under 45. Services like Detour House, by assisting women in gaining the independence and dignity they deserve, play a crucial role in preventing such deaths, and in improving the lives of women at risk.

It must remain open.

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The NSW Government's Going Home Staying Home Reform tender packages issued last November were written in such a way as to exclude women-only specialist services and refuges. Many women who are homeless come to the inner city where they are less likely to be recognised and found. Over four decades a network of refuges and other services for women has grown up in the inner city, providing specialised care and support. These services are as in demand today as they have ever been.

Detour House is just one such service, helping young women and girls who are at risk of homelessness.

Detour House Inc provides accommodation and care to women and girls in two locations in Sydney's Inner West. Detour House provides a 3 month rehabilitation program to women who have experienced drug and/or alcohol dependency. The program is 12 Step based and is set in a safe, supportive environment to assist women as they move to independent living. Their Young People's Refuge offers supported accommodation and individual case management to young women aged 13 to 17 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

All women who meet the admission criteria, regardless of religious or cultural beliefs, sexual preference, transgender identity, political affiliation, disability or HIV/AIDS status, are admitted.

Detour House, and the women it helps, needs your support.

Your donation will help guarntee that young women at risk of homelessness in Sydney will continue to have access to the help they deserve.

Please donate - any sum, no matter how small, wil help a great deal.

Yours faithfully,

Daniel Richardson

danielbrichardson@gmail.com

I am endebted to the 'Save Our Women's Services' campaign for the campaign materials reproduced above.

I encourage you to sign their petition to here.