Mallee Accommodation and Support Program (MASP) was established in 1994 following the amalgamation of the Sunraysia Youth Accommodation Project and the Sunraysia Emergency Accommodation Centre (Emmaus House). A staffing group of eight people joined forces to support and advocate for homeless people and those at risk of homelessness in the Mallee.
This included people living with disabilities, children and young people living in unsafe situations and women and children escaping family violence.
MASP’s main aims were to improve access to the existing housing stock, to increase appropriate housing options and to develop social support programs that could end homelessness and disadvantage in the Mallee community.
In 1999 MASP began to introduce programs for children and young people entering the out of home care system, including youth residential care and foster care. The organisation also started the important work of training and supporting foster caregivers and specialist staff.
In 2006 the newly formed Youth Mentoring Program took a group of nine young people and their mentors to Papua New Guinea where they walked the Kokoda Track together. Since then, this innovative program has helped more than 240 young people to connect with community mentors.
In 2007, MASP launched its Integrated Family Services program and in 2008 was selected to be the regional provider for Child FIRST. In 2018 MASP’s Child FIRST team relocated to the newly established Orange Door family violence response hub in Mildura. Through MASP’s continued commitment to working with vulnerable families, MASP has played an integral part in the effort to end family violence in the Mallee.
In 2011 MASP extended its existing housing support program and became a registered housing provider. This paved the way for MASP to build quality social housing in the Mallee. MASP remains committed to providing equitable and affordable housing for all members of our community.
In 2019, MASP’s purpose-built Service and Community Hub was opened, bringing most services under one roof to provide easier access for clients. In 2020 MASP launched the Red Earth heart Van, a community outreach program providing social connection, meals and laundry services to those in need.
In 2022 MASP launched its Strategic Plan 2022-25, setting out how the organisation can better service communities across the Mallee (Victoria) and Far West (New South Wales) regions into the future. The plan commits MASP to fulfil its purpose and to work towards a community free from homelessness, abuse, poverty and disadvantage.
To make this happen MASP defined four areas of greatest need of community service that identify and dictate the organisation’s key focus areas and ambitions through its Family Safety, Homelessness Support, Children, Youth and Families, Residential Services and Social Housing program areas.
