Support available for residents Buried in Treasures

Applications are open now for a program to support people experiencing hoarding tendencies, thanks to a $10,000 Community Funding Grant from the City of Gosnells.

Using Level 2 grant funding, Black Swan Health will conduct Buried in Treasures, a 16-week program to provide support and strategies for people to declutter their homes and manage hoarding tendencies.

Mayor Terresa Lynes said the City dealt with up to 10 cases of extreme hoarding or people living in squalor each year and it typically cost the City more than $10,000 to clean up a home where hoarding was present.

“By providing funding to Black Swan Health to conduct Buried in Treasures locally, the City hopes to address hoarding behaviours in a sensitive and effective way, before the City is required to step in,” she said.

“The City wants to ensure vulnerable residents have opportunities to remain connected with their community, and improve their health and wellbeing,” she said.

Black Swan Health CEO Terina Grace said the program would be delivered by a professional facilitator and people with lived experience, offering a holistic and non-judgmental approach.

“It has been suggested that between two and five per cent of Australians are affected by a hoarding disorder,” she said.

“Traditional methods of cleaning out an entire home usually leave people feeling violated, robbed and empty.

“There is a better way to support people to find a safe, hygienic and happy home, not necessarily a show home, but a tidy environment.”

Interested participants can complete an online form at blackswanhealth.com.au or contact Ritika Thakur on 6559 1262 for more information.

Not-for-profit groups can apply for City of Gosnells Level 2 Community Funding Grants this September, to fund their own community projects.

Visit gosnells.wa.gov.au for details.