Tahlia Ives (Above) has been homeless on and off for most of her life.

Now, for the first time, the 16-year-old has reliable housing in the northern NSW town of Kempsey, where a new initiative is bringing hope to young people like her.

Mid North Coast specialist youth homelessness service YP Space (See video above) is re-imagining how to provide safe, secure housing for at-risk young people — and expanding its ability to do so.

The organisation is refurbishing a disused caravan park and water-damaged cabins to provide affordable housing for people aged between 16 and 25 who are experiencing homelessness.  

Tahlia has been helped by YP Space over a number of years and says, thanks to them, she's now finally finding her feet. 

"They are now housing me in their refuge home and helping me get on a better path and it's so amazing to finally be able to do that," she says.

"I don't give up very easily and I know they would never give up on me and I know they have helped so many of my friends get through."

YP Space CEO Caleb Rose says the organisation liquidated its property assets and invested almost the whole lot in the caravan park in the centre of town.

"You couldn't ask for a more central location and the fact that there is a disused caravan park right here, that has snuck under the radar until now, has just been a stroke of luck for us," he says.

Serendipity strikes:

Mr Rose says the group also managed to secure cabins that had been damaged during severe flooding in Port Macquarie last year.

The 10 cabins will be refurbished and moved to the Kempsey site soon with scope to add more.

"We call it a bit of serendipity, I guess," Mr Rose says.

"It's hard to find positives in the recent natural disasters we've had in our area — we were affected by fires only a short time before the floods came along — but certainly it's a positive for us.

"We wouldn't be able to afford 10 cabins if we hadn't got them in this situation."

The beds for the cabins were donated by a motel in nearby Port Macquarie.

Housing near town centre:

Tahlia says the central location of the new housing will help young people.

"It makes it so much easier for so many kids that can't drive — I'm only 16 and I don't have my licence," she says.

"A lot of their friends are all in town, and that's where you hang out.

"It makes it easier to be home by curfew and it makes it easier to get to your job interviews … because it's just a five-minute walk. 

"I'm so proud of my community to be able to do this."

'Small dent' in youth homelessness:

Mr Rose says homelessness is an ongoing issue across the region.

"It's a huge problem and this will put a small dent in it," he says.

He says they have upwards of 100 young people on their books, and fewer than 10% would be living in their refuges.

"The rest of them are couch surfing, sometimes at home in difficult situations, sometimes rough sleeping and desperate to have some permanent safe accommodation, somewhere to live," he says.

Casework manager in Kempsey and Port Macquarie Andrea Davidson says it is a constant struggle to find beds for those in need.

"We've had up to 300 young people a night sleeping on the street on the Mid North Coast," she says.

Ms Davidson says pressures during the past couple of years including bushfires, COVID-19 and floods, have had a big impact on young people.

"Houses are being sold, tenants are being kicked out so the landlords can move in or family are moving into them, and young people are never their first pick," she says.

"We're finding it's quite difficult to get anyone housed at the moment — there are at least 50 applicants per house — and the rents have gone up in price enormously as well."

A model for elsewhere:

Mr Rose says he hopes the accommodation model they are using in Kempsey can be replicated in other parts of regional Australia, where there are many disused parcels of private land.

"Something like this is going to be increasingly necessary everywhere you look," he says.

"All you need is a little bit of out-of-the-box thinking. Particularly in regional Australia there are land assets that aren't being used.

"These are the sorts of things that we can be doing to alleviate that massive problem."

Story By | Emma Siossian, Luisa Rubbo & Cameron Marshall