US "Homelessness Czar" in Australia
16 May 2008 at 2:25 pm
The man described by US President, George Bush as the "homelessness czar", Phillip Mangano, has been announced as the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia’s guest for Schizophrenia Awareness Week.
The Australian visit follows a meeting with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Washington earlier this year with Philip Mangano who is the director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) and one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People for 2006.
Mangano was personally selected by the American President to fight the war on homelessness through a new model known Housing First.
Prime Minister Rudd met with Mangano during his recent trip to Washington DC to discuss Australia’s own homelessness crisis and how Housing First might work in Australia.
Housing First takes the view that having your own home should not be a distant goal that people with a mental illness should work towards but is instead the foundation that makes other advancements such as getting a job or an education possible.
Margaret Springgay, CEO of MIFA says housing has been identified as the number one priority facing people with a mental illness in last year’s Australia Talks Mental Illness survey and is looking forward to hearing what such an influential international expert has to say about it.
The original Housing First program in New York City has a success rate of about 85-90 % and Mangano has now rolled out the program to more than 15 locations across America with similar results.
During his tour of Australia he will be visiting Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth meeting with both Parliamentarians and members of the local community to discuss his ideas in a series of events.
Here are his itinerary dates:
May 13 – 14
Sydney
Contact: Iain Robinson at Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW on 02 9879 2600
May 15 – 16
Canberra
Contact Bernette Redman at Mental Illness Fellowship of ACT on 02 6205 1349
May 17 – 19
Perth
Contact Stephanie Bachman at the Mental Illness Fellowship of WA on 08 9228 0200
May 21 – 23
Adelaide
Contact Natasha Miliotis of the Mental Illness Fellowship of SA on 08 8221 5160
May 24
Sydney
Contact: Iain Robinson at Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW on 02 9879 2600
