When we chose that name for our newest accommodation service, it wasn’t just poetic — it was a commitment. That every young person who walked through those doors, however lost or frightened or let down they felt, would find in that place a point of light.
Today, exactly one year on, we gathered to mark Djinda’s first birthday. And to reflect honestly on what that promise has meant in practice.
This week, we gathered in Perth’s northern suburbs to sing happy birthday, blow out a candle, and mark one year since Djinda opened its doors.
It was a small celebration in a house that has already held so much — and for those of us in the room, it carried a weight that a birthday cake and a song couldn’t quite contain.
Djinda — named after the Noongar word for star — opened on 5 May 2025 as a 24/7 supported accommodation service for young people aged 15–19 in Perth’s northern suburbs who were experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It was designed from the ground up with young people at the centre. The furniture, the fit-out, the staffing model, the daily rhythms — all of it built around the question: what does a young person actually need to feel safe?
The artwork on the walls was created by students from Youth Futures Community School. That, as our Accommodation Services Coordinator Liz Lalor noted in her birthday speech this morning, says something important about what Djinda was always meant to be. Not just a functional place. A place worth being in and wanting to be.
In a system that too often moves people quickly from one crisis bed to the next, Djinda was built to do something different: move young people forward.
Time frames are flexible on how long someone can stay. The team doesn’t set an arbitrary clock ticking. They walk alongside each young person — whether the destination is transitional accommodation, reunification with family or education. They don’t nudge them toward the exit until they’re genuinely ready.
“We don’t rush to get them out,” said Alex, a youth worker who has been there since day one. “We walk alongside them. We help build them up to a point where we believe they are ready to move on to the next part of their life.”
That philosophy shows up in the day-to-day in quiet, unglamorous ways. Door knocks in the morning. Help with cooking and cleaning. Appointments. Baking brownies. Board games. Danielle, the first caseworker at Djinda, put it simply: “Every day is very different — and I think that’s what makes it so special.”
Those small moments add up. Over the past year, the team has provided 2,113 bed nights of safety and warmth across 15 young people. Nearly half of those supported were 17 years old, standing right on the edge of a system that can so easily lose them.
One resident, Scott, arrived at 17 carrying significant trauma and PTSD. Gradually, through consistent support, he began to open up. He now participates in activities, maintains routines, and describes his experience in three words: “I feel safe.”
Christmas at Djinda — the service’s first — was a highlight of the year. Staff decorated, cooked together, and gave gifts. For several young people, it was their first safe, positive holiday season. A new tradition was born: each young person decorated an ornament for the Djinda tree. Over time, that tree will become a living record of everyone who has passed through.
Liz was honest this morning, because the occasion asked for it.
In the past year, there were 609 requests for accommodation at Djinda. Of those, 546 young people were turned away — not because they didn’t qualify, not because they didn’t deserve to be there, but simply because there was no bed available.
That number is not a reflection on the team. It is a measure of the scale of the need in this community, and a clear call for continued investment in services like this one.
The vision for Djinda has always been bigger than one house.
Because every young person who has walked through Djinda’s doors carries their own star. Sometimes circumstances dim it. But it does not go out. The job — for this team, and for all of us who support this work — is simply to help it shine again.
Here’s to year two. 🌟
Djinda was made possible through the generous support of Lotterywest, Alcock Family Foundation, Dale Alcock Homes, Stephen’s Family Foundation, Beyond Bank, Homes for Homes, Wind Over Water Foundation, Collier Trust, Youth Futures Foundation, The John and Beryl May Henderson Foundation, The Charles Bateman Charitable Trust, and many generous individual donors. Thank you.
