From homelessness to home 

When you chat with Scott, you can’t help but smile. His warmth and happiness lights up a room and when you get into a conversation with him, time flies and half an hour goes by in what feels like minutes. 

Scott was one of the very first people to move into the VincentCare Community Housing Footscray apartments, built with the support of the Victorian Government’s Big Housing Build, in November 2025. 

When we spoke to him just after he’d moved in, he was over the moon about settling into his very own brand-new one-bedroom apartment that he can stay in for as long as he likes. 

Scott has settled in quickly, with photos of his beloved pet cat and his family on his shelves and a neat and tidy set up. 

This brand-new home is the part of a long journey for Scott over the last eleven years, where the safety and security of a place to call home was not always available to him. 

He’d been living in Bendigo in 2014 and had been working at a community radio station when due to circumstances beyond his control, he found himself with nowhere to live. Scott made his way to Melbourne, where the first place he found support was with the Salvos. 

But Scott tells us that his life changed when he first met two workers at VincentCare.

VincentCare Victoria supported him to get into housing in the inner Northern suburbs of Melbourne where he could bring his pet cat, but he faced further challenges with difficult housemates and still longed for long-term, secure housing. 

During this time, Scott became an integral part of the Ozanam House community in North Melbourne, participating in the NEST Program with OzHarvest (Nutrition, Education, Skills, Training), the cooking classes with Chef Francis, and even learning to bake cakes with Natalie Paull from Beatrix Bakes. Scott’s father was a chef, so baking and cooking has special meaning for him. 

With the support of his key worker , Andrew, in 2025 Scott heard about the Big Housing Build project. Scott applied for a spot in one of the 92 new apartments in March, and it was a nervous wait finding out if he had gotten a spot in the apartments. Following some months of uncertainty, Scott got the news he had hoped for. He had a place. 

Scott has volunteered for the residents’ committee and is sure to be a community connecter for all the new residents. 

Scott now has his very own kitchen to call his own and he can test out the cake recipes Natalie Paull taught him. His favourite cake is carrot cake. 

From beginning to end, Scott says: "I love it."