Ruby’s House

By Dr David Marshall AM
Chair, District 9705 Vulnerable Youth Project
Rotary Club of Canberra, ACT

I looked into the sunken, bloodshot eyes of a desperate 13-year-old boy and felt helpless. This young lad had been evicted from his family home as they could no longer handle his pubescent behaviour. The despair and anguish he exuded was haunting.

This is the situation faced by thousands of young people across Australia daily.

From this experience, Rotary in District 9705 established a youth program that works with families and their children to stop young people falling into homelessness. The Vulnerable Youth Project (known as Ruby’s) was designated as a District 9705 project in 2018.

Ruby’s acts as a circuit breaker, allowing dysfunctional families to have time apart as tension and other problems emerge. Ruby’s is not a refuge, nor a drop-off point for kids already on the street, as other services cater for this cohort.

“Ruby’s acts as a circuit breaker, allowing dysfunctional families to have time apart as tension and other problems emerge.”

To enter the Ruby’s program families and their children must both be involved and committed, and the success of this model is backed by 30 years of experience in South Australia. The South Australia program, run by Uniting Communities, sees up to 86 per cent of young people aged 10 to 17 years return to live with their families full-time.

Most referrals to this program come from families, as well as police, education providers, medical professionals and other government service providers.

The homes are owned by the government and are modified to have six bedrooms for young people to stay for up to three nights a week, then return to their own homes for four days. This pattern continues for up to six months. Over this period social workers and allied professionals work with the families and these young people to reconcile their issues.

Up to 15 young people can be accommodated in the home weekly. Without this intervention youths often become homeless and slip into a dangerous world of exploitation, drugs, alcohol and intense loneliness. A percentage of these young people will just disappear and sadly some will take their own lives.

Rotary clubs lobby and advocate for the establishment of a Ruby’s home or, where certain services already exist in towns and cities now, encourage the Ruby’s model to be incorporated into these programs.

In Canberra, the ACT Government refurbished and opened its first Ruby’s home in the suburb of Waramanga in September 2022. Many Rotary clubs in NSW are very keen to introduce the Ruby’s model into their area to slow the spiralling surge in youth homelessness. Rotary is a perfect supporting partner to advocate for the Ruby’s model to be adopted in towns across NSW. The cost to Rotary clubs to support the Ruby’s program can be as much or as little as they can provide.

This district project is overseen by a 9705 District Governance Board.