Fundraising and Partnerships Committee Member (non-Board role)

Women’s Property Initiatives (WPI) is a 21-year-old not-for-profit, community housing organisation that creates new beginnings for women facing homelessness by providing permanent and affordable homes, access to support networks and ongoing advocacy.

Everyone is entitled to a safe and secure home and women face the greatest disadvantage in being able to afford one. Women earn less than men and have fewer opportunities. As primary care-givers to children, many women also have limits on their ability to work.

Only a small fraction of properties in the private rental market in Victoria are affordable for people on low incomes and most low-income earners are women. The financial disadvantage that women face when combined with a housing affordability crisis has meant that women's homelessness is growing at a faster rate than men's. Even if women find short-term accommodation, in most cases there is no next step towards a stable future. WPI wants to offer women this next step.

WPI was established in 1996, through a projected funded by the Victorian State Government in response to the shortage of affordable, appropriate and secure housing for low-income single women and single mothers. WPI’s first project was an 11-house development in Melbourne’s North West in conjunction with the Office of Housing. These homes were tenanted to 11 women and 26 children. In 2017, WPI owns and manages a total of 82 homes tenanted to over 200 women and children with a net worth of $36 million.