Perri Conti buys 12-bedroom share house for working homeless
A Cairns youth advocate is literally putting her money where her mouth is by snapping up a dilapidated boarding house with plans to transform the property into low cost youth accommodation.
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A Cairns youth advocate is literally putting her money where her mouth is by snapping up a dilapidated boarding house with plans to transform the property into low cost accommodation for young homeless people.
Built in 1950 the 12 bedroom property at 18 Lumley St in Parramatta Park sold at auction to Perri Conti last month for $577,000.
Ms Conti said she had taken out a bank loan to finance the acquisition.
Moved by the plight of young working people that struggle day-to-day finding somewhere safe to spend the night, the outspoken business woman turned campaigner has decided to take the bull by the horns and make a positive difference.
Earlier knocked back by the Department of Housing after making a case for the disused Mooroobool police beat to be repurposed as a youth facility, Ms Conti will now outlay more cash to make the Lumley St residence liveable.
Ms Conti has registered a not-for-profit charity called Changing Young Lives that will offer a hand up to young working kids living on the street and couch surfing.
“It’s for any young kids living on the street that have full time jobs and no one’s allowed to come here, only the kids that live here,” Ms Conti said.
“They will pay minimum rent, which will cover rates, electricity and water.
“Sad, isn’t it, to think we have a government that wastes all this money, but can’t give anything to working kids.”
Ms Conti shared stories of young Indigenous girls sleeping on the street constantly in fear of being raped and a boy she knew that had a job but was forced to quit after visitors to his family home continually stole his phone and wrecked his uniforms.
“God knows there’s going to be all these kids that eventually get out of Cleveland (Youth Detention Centre) that we will try and get apprenticeships or jobs for,” she said.
“They’ll need a place like this, we can’t send them back to the cesspool because they end up working for nothing because in those households what’s yours is everybody’s.”
But before then a major makeover is required and squatters will need to vacate the Lumley St property.
“It’s all cosmetic, we will rip all the sheets off the walls, re-sheet them, clean up the bathrooms and we have got a new kitchen going in,” she said.
“The only stuff we got brand new was the beds which cost $6000, then we need 14 new air conditioners at $700 a pop and fridges, that’s another $4000.”
Ms Conti said she already had tenants lined up to move into the property that was formerly operated by the Cairns Share House Group.
The property to be named Tameake’s Place has already been registered with Cairns Regional Council as a share house.
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Originally published as Perri Conti buys 12-bedroom share house for working homeless
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