Pivot Support Services’ final push for State Government funding ahead of September 30 closure of Community Hub

More than 1500 people have signed a petition calling on the State Government to fund a vital crisis relief hub in Albany about a month ahead of its planned closure. The Community Hub run by Pivot Support Services has helped more than 2500 people get back on their feet in its five-year run. PSS — which has been funding the service at a loss — is now turning to external sources to garner the $1 million needed to continue operating it for another three years. Chief executive Ian Neil said community support for the hub had been brilliant with more than 1100 people signing a petition online and a further 400 signing it in person. Mr Neil said the hub had been self-funded since it started in 2019 but was earmarked to shut down by September 30 without external funding. “To an extent, we’ve been victims of our own success,” he said. “People are thinking, the Government’s not re-funding or it’s withdrawing funding, but that’s not the case, the Government never funded it. “By any measure, the last five years have been successful — if you look at the number of people now coming through our door, the level of support that we’ve been able to give, the integration of service provision, and the feedback we’re actually getting from clients, whichever way you measure those, it’s been a successful program. “People come in every day for all sorts of emergency relief assistance — people in financial strife or the at-risk homeless or domestic violence situations and the hub sort of helps get that immediate crisis sorted, and then helps them navigate those next steps to get out of crisis — unfortunately this part of Pivot’s service will cease on September 30.” The $1 million funding plea covers stage one of the business plan, which covers operating costs for three years and expanding the program to Katanning. Pivot chair Marcelle Cannon said the September 30 deadline was chosen to give the service and clients a chance to prepare for the worst. “Earlier this year, we were crunching the numbers and realised that, if we kept trading and running this service without any external funds, the whole business would become insolvent,” she said. “(The hub) costs $130,000 a year to run and we’re estimating that over the five years, we’ve spent half a million dollars on it. “September 30 felt like the right balance, in that we could provide support to those in need over the winter period, and give it a really good crack over this period to see if we could get the private funding. “We’ve tried to get funding from so many avenues without success. “We thought let’s give it one last pitch before we have to close the doors.” Mr Neil believes the loss of the hub’s wraparound service will leave a gap in the community that will drive a heavy influx of traffic to already tight services such as Palmerston, Anglicare and the Emergency Room at the Albany Health Campus. Mr Neil said he had advocated with politicians until he was “blue in the face” but had not received a conclusive answer on whether funding was forthcoming. A Department of Communities spokesperson said they continued to engage with Pivot and had invested in many homelessness and crisis-relief programs in the region. “The Department of Communities continues to engage Pivot and the wider community services sector as part of the State Government’s ongoing commissioning process,” they said. “In the Great Southern region in this financial year alone, the State Government is investing more than $4.1 million in homeless services, providing supported accommodation and wrap-around supports for those experiencing homelessness, of which more than $2 million is new funding announced in the 2024 to 2025 Budget. “The State Government is investing a further $15.7 million to expand Housing First Support Services . . . including the establishment of HFSS in Albany, planning for Kalgoorlie and expansion of existing services in Bunbury, Geraldton and the Perth Metro area.” Mr Neil is also holding out hope for private funding with the Albany Community Foundation helping PSS put together a pitch document and approaching private foundations. Other programs run by PSS — including its prison work, New Leaf and NDIS operations — will remain unaffected.