Ending youth homelessness: The Melbourne project transforming the lives of young women [Video]

Tucked away in an unassuming heritage-listed building in the inner Melbourne suburb of St Kilda is a pioneering project aiming to end youth homelessness. 

The ‘Cocoon’ project is a housing program that supports young women who are leaving out-of-home care or experiencing homelessness, providing a home to recover, develop living skills and prepare for long-term housing. 

Youth homelessness charity Bridge It leads the flagship project with community housing provider HousingFirst, which owns the St Kilda building.  

While HousingFirst brings the building, Bridge It provides the support, including access to lived-experience peer mentoring, social worker support, cooking groups, and pathways into long term housing and employment. 

Bridge It founder and chief executive Carla Raynes, who has worked in the homelessness sector in Australia and the UK for almost 20 years, said that the need for longer-term and more intensive support services like the cocoon project was massive.  

“In lots of ways, we try to mimic what …