IRT Group is working to help reduce the number of elderly Australians dying from homelessness and loneliness.
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It is doing so with the help of many Illawarra businesses who turned out to support the IRT Foundation on Friday at its annual Neverland Ball.
Chief executive Nieves Murray said since the foundation was established in 2009 it had invested almost $2 million in leading Australian research that helps empower older people to have more choice and control in their care and quality of life.
“With a strong focus on social and civic participation for older people, we’ve driven significant new initiatives, like the Age-Friendly Illawarra Alliance,” Mr Murray said.
“The Alliance is working to make our region the first to be recognised as ‘age-friendly’ by the World Health Organisation.”
IRT Foundation also co-founded the Cruise Wollongong Volunteer Ambassador Program with Destination Wollongong. It has provided 500 seniors with an opportunity to contribute, by welcoming almost 4000 visitors from three cruise ships to Port Kembla.
Since 2015 more than 400 people have attended the foundation’s Career Check Up Expos focused on providing more opportunities to older people who make a contribution to their communities. Those efforts inspired City Motors Group to recruit six mature-age workers to flexible part-time positions. ms Murray said that was a “great example of how IRT Foundation’s advocacy translates to practical outcomes for older people”.
The foundation is providing support to older Australians who face disadvantage. IRT is a provider of affordable housing and support for seniors who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Ms Murray said that work was being reinvigorated through the foundation. In 2016 it helped 90 clients who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Ms Murray said IRT would like to do more because in Australia more than 15,000 people over the age of 55 are sleeping rough, including 2000 over the age of 75.
“Research shows that 64 per cent of them will die within five years. Homelessness among older people is real and it’s deadly,” she said.
IRT Foundation is making a difference by housing more older people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Mr Murray said the number of Illawarra businesses who supported the Neverland Ball on Friday were an example of the support IRT was getting.
She said IRT is developing a new referral network to ensure that support services reach the people who need them most. It is partnering with community groups to create volunteering opportunities for socially isolated seniors. It is continuing to advocate for mature workforce participation, hosting more Career Check Up Expos and seeking out new sources of funding to support the work.
“We will empower older Australians to live free from disadvantage,” she said.
During the last year the IRT Foundation has teamed up with IRT at Home, IRT College and the Katungul Aboriginal Corporation Community & Medical Service to pioneer a new home care service with and for Aboriginal people.
The project’s supported by a $1.4 million grant from the Australian Government.
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