Mental illness can disrupt normal living and stability of housing. Accessing affordable, safe and stable accommodation is a common problem for people experiencing mental health problems. Housing support can assist in playing a part to support people with mental illness to successfully transition into the community. The Enveco Recovery Centre defines an approach to successfully support those living with mental illness into independent living.

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“The Frankston-Dandenong Corridor recorded a rate of 40 homeless people per 10,000 of the population in the 2006 ‘Counting the Homeless’ Census. This rate is high compared to that of the Melbourne inner city ring that was estimated to have a rate of 38 per 10,000 people, and the Melbourne outer city ring that was estimated to have a rate of 28 per 10,000 people. In addition, the Frankston-Mornington Peninsula catchment was identified as having more than one third (37.5%) of the SMRs total homeless population who were residing in improvised dwellings such as tents and squats. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the number of homeless people — from 2011 to 2016 — in Frankston City rose from 465 to 546 and in Mornington Peninsula Shire from 272 to 298.

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 Ten out of the top 20 worst metro electorates for homelessness are in the South/South-East metro electorates: Dandenong, Frankston, Narre Warren South, Keysborough, Mulgrave, Clarinda, Oakleigh, Caulfield, Prahran, and Albert Park. Dandenong is the second worst electorate for homelessness after the seat of Melbourne.  The Frankston electorate has the third worst rough sleeping rate in all of Victoria (Melbourne and Albert Park rank first and second for rough sleeping)

Frankston West was identified as having the third largest number of people in the metropolitan region residing in homeless hostels, night shelters or refuges. Another key group of the hidden homeless in the catchment are those staying in boarding houses. In Frankston-Mornington Peninsula there are more than 75 boarding houses of which only 44 are registered. In 2011, Victoria recorded a rate of 8.2 per 10,000 of the population of people staying in boarding houses – equal to the national rate. Peninsula Youth and Family Services is the key homelessness service provider and ‘front door’ to the homelessness service system in Frankston and Mornington. It reports that single people with an average age of 35 years are the major users of the service and account for at least 75% of all contacts requesting housing assistance – many of who end up staying in boarding house accommodation.” (http://www.fmpml.org.au)

“Marginal residents of caravan parks also form a significant and unique sub-group of the homeless population within the Frankston-Mornington Peninsula Catchment. In Frankston there are 30 caravan parks while on the Mornington Peninsula there are 40 parks. Some are described as a ‘dumping ground’ particularly for people with mental health issues and substance abuse problems (Counting the Homeless 2006 Victoria). Such residents of caravan parks are considered part of the tertiary homeless population in the area. When this broader definition is used, then the rate of homelessness in the Frankston-Dandenong Corridor increases significantly from 40 to 56 per 10,000 of the population.” (http://www.fmpml.org.au)