Ainslie Village is a social housing site near the Canberra War Memorial, home to nearly 200 vulnerable residents.*
Ainslie Village Enterprises is all about creating opportunities for a diverse community to find some satisfaction in creating environmentally sound products for themselves, to either keep or sell; while helping themselves, the planet, and other people all at the same time.
Some people may only have a few good hours each week, others much more. We are building little (and large) opportunities for all of these people to be able to make something beautiful, interesting or unusual out of upcycled material, and gain a sense of self-worth and achievement in the process. And a little cash too!
A this stage most of this is focused on plastic upcycling, taking old items, and turning them into new products – lampshades, clothing, signage and building materials. We also recover and reuse paper and other materials less often salvaged prior to landfill.
*Some residents have been here a few months, others a few decades. Most have chronic issues, whether health, disability, learning disorders, or simply other factors that have led to them being basically homeless.
There is an onsite crisis/homeless shelter from which people may move into the village itself if their circumstances are neither too extreme nor temporary.
There are many people here who have exhausted their savings while undergoing medical or other treatments for conditions ranging from cancer to learning disorders or simply abusive personal history.