Studio Purpose: Four more units open for disadvantaged youth in Murray Bridge

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The completion of four new homes in Murray Bridge will mean more than just a roof over the heads of four disadvantaged young people.

For those young people, it will mean hope for the future.

That was the message from the people behind the Studio Purpose project on Wednesday morning, as they celebrated the refurbishment of a former Housing Trust duplex just outside Murray Bridge’s CBD.

In a bit over a year, volunteers put more than 1500 hours of work into turning the run-down stone building into four compact but homely units.

Each consists of a bedroom, living area, kitchen and bathroom/laundry, plus a courtyard garden out the back.

Like the first Studio Purpose units, completed in 2021, the new homes will be made available to locals aged 15 to 23 who would otherwise be at risk of homelessness.

As well as housing the young people, AC Care will provide them with intensive support so they can get their lives back on track.

The Habitat for Humanity construction project was completed thanks to hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of donated funds, materials and labour, including a $100,000 donation from Impact 100 SA.

The Morialta Trust, the Harvey Foundation, Shape and the Murray Bridge council were among the major donors.

Among the local contributors were plumber Chris Nutt, electrician Tristan Ahrns, cabinetmakers Anthony Weyland and Greg Bell, concreter Frank Sansone, builder Steve Mobbs, engineer Rob Frazer, suppliers LMC Garden and Landscape Products and Bowhill Engineering, Murray Bridge High School students and even neighbouring residents.

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Habitat for Humanity’s Louise Hay hoped the units would provide not just safe spaces, but “havens of hope and opportunity”.

Volunteer Steve Bown said he and the other members of Habitat for Humanity’s Murray Bridge chapter had been motivated by their Christian faith.

“What makes someone stupid enough to not finish his own house, to not finish his project of rebuilding an old coaster bus (and to do this instead)?” he asked.

“The Bible says to look after people who can’t look after themselves.”

Mayor Wayne Thorley said he was proud about what the Studio Purpose had shown about Murray Bridge.

“Murray Bridge has always been known for its strong sense of community resilience and care for one another,” he said.

Stage two might not necessarily be the end of the project, either.

AC Care’s Thanuja Hiripitiyage left the door open for a Studio Purpose III, saying “this might not be the end of the expansion of this bold concept”.

The project’s first stage had already made a “significant difference” in the lives of at least half a dozen young people, she said.

• Volunteer with or donate to Habitat for Humanity: Visit habitat.org.au/sa or phone Steve Bown on 0417 344 145.

Public housing is nearly complete, state government minister says

Also present at the opening was state Human Services Minister Nat Cook, who spoke about the importance of housing on anyone’s journey to adulthood.

That was why the state government was in the middle of the biggest public housing build in Murray Bridge in decades, she said, with 12 homes – or “31 bedrooms”, as she put it – due to be completed in the next month or two.

A tender was about to go out for the construction of “another handful” of homes, she said.