On a quiet street off Beach Road in Batemans Bay, an unassuming house provides refuge to a small group of men working to change their lives for the better.
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Hope House, a Community Life men's refuge, provides secure accommodation for up to eight men for a period of six months.
During their stay the men engage with counsellors, undertake job training and learn how to support themselves in the community.
Hope House secretary Peter Vincent has been volunteering with Community Life for nearly three years and said the services offered were some of the best.
"There's quite a few refuges for women, as there should be, but not as many on the South Coast for homeless men, and a lot of our residents are not local," he said.
"Many are homeless, not only from addiction, but simply because they've found it all too tough. They've ended up with no money for one reason or another, they're out of a job, and it's just just too darn tough for them.
"So we do our best to help them recover, get them back to their families and get back into the community in pretty good shape."
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The residents at Hope House are independent, cook their own meals and have their own space in individual rooms.
"And everyone gets along, that's the most important part," Mr Vincent said.
"The purpose for us is to not only assist their recovery, but to find them employment and independent accommodation, which on the South Coast is very tough."
But all the men referred to and accepted by Hope House must be willing to address their issues head on.
"Race, religion, creed, it's of no concern to us, as long as the guys that come here, really do want to make a difference to their lives," Mr Vincent said.
"Because if they're just coming here to avoid jail, or to avoid any penalties whatsoever, it's not going to work.
"We want guys here who we can care for and who can care for themselves enough to get back on track."
Hope House is kept running by community and philanthropic support as well as government grants.
In 2019 the organisation received a Community Solar Grant, which provided a budget of up to $12,500 to go green with solar.
They enlisted the help of Solahart Far South Coast to install solar panels on the roof of Hope House.
"Prior to the pandemic electricity was costing us over $6000 a year, with eight residents in the house," Mr Vincent said.
"With the solar installations we're down to $3000 a year so it has already been a significant saving for us."
These savings mean extra resources for Hope House to fund its free programs and provide stepping stones for homeless men to work, educational opportunities and residential stability.
And everyone gets along, that's the most important part.
- Peter Vincent
Solahart Far South Coast dealer principal Michael Blackmore said it was important for businesses to get behind community groups wherever possible.
"Local community groups are reliant on the businesses to support them, otherwise they just don't exist," he said.
"Hope House does a terrific job and represents such a good service so we've tried to support that any way we possibly can."
The Solahart team installed 33 solar panels on the roof which translated to 9.6 kilowatts and included panel monitoring for the house to see what it was consuming and producing.
"We were thrilled to be able to assist Hope House in their transition to solar, which will result in extra funds for the important work they do for the community," Mr Blackmore said.