Rich-listers donate $1m for street kids

ONE of Queensland's richest couples has donated $1 million to help get homeless young people off the streets.

ONE of Queensland's richest couples has donated $1 million to help get homeless young people off the streets.

Kevin and Kathy Young, founders of The Investors Club property investment company, are backing the Australian Red Cross initiative to support about 160 youths each year.

"I've always had a desire to help street kids," Mr Young said. "I would hate to be in their situation."

The couple were ranked number 74 on The Sunday Mail Queensland's Top 100 Rich List last year with an estimated wealth of $148 million.

Mr Young said he recalled what it was like growing up poor, sleeping on the open-sided verandah of his parents' rented home.

"I worked three jobs to get where I am today," he said. "But you can't do that these days and it's harder again trying to get a job when you don't have a home base to start with. So we are happy to help out."

The new Red Cross service will operate out of a building in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley - named the Young Centre to recognise the couple's contribution - to be launched Wednesday.

A rental subsidy program will help young people sleeping rough to get a roof over their heads and there will be support to build life skills, training and job hunting.

"We want to ensure at-risk young people receive all the support they need to get back on track and achieve their life goals," Red Cross Queensland executive director Kevin Keeffe said.

Emma Basson, 21, who has lived in emergency and temporary accommodation since she was a young child, said the chance to get into a rental property of her own "would make a huge difference to my life".

"Because I have no rental history and I'm young, people just assume that I'm going to muck up," she said.

"Getting a job would make things so much better, but to do that you need a permanent address."

Ms Basson has been attending the Albert Park Flexible Learning Centre to boost her education and prepare for the workforce.

The Young Centre is also being supported by the Lord Mayor's Community Trust which has raised more than $4.5 million for a range of projects over the past eight years.

"We want to give them the tools to change their lives for the better," said Lord mayor Graham Quirk, whose wife Anne chairs the trust.