Queensland’s oldest charity, The Lady Musgrave Trust, has expanded its Handy Guide, which provides services for homeless women, to cover locations in regional Queensland, assisting more young women living rough.

Launched with the support of the Queensland Government, Griffith University and Centacare, www.thehandyguide.com was first rolled out in February this year as an online directory of emergency services throughout Brisbane. It was developed in response to findings that there are 2,000 women in Brisbane without shelter on any given night, as well as the high levels of homelessness throughout regional Queensland.

Prior to The Handy Guide becoming an online service, The Lady Musgrave Trust was only able to distribute printed copies of the guide to those in need in Brisbane. Not wanting to ignore the high number of women affected by homelessness throughout regional Queensland, The Lady Musgrave Trust launched its very first hard copy of the Regional Handy Guide, and expanded the online service to Cairns, Townsville, Ipswich, Mt Isa, Maroochydore, Mackay, Caboolture, Toowoomba and Bundaberg. This potentially helps thousands of women who desperately need access to homelessness services in Queensland.

CEO of The Lady Musgrave Trust, Karen Lyon Reid, said that the new regional version of The Handy Guide in both print and online will have an immediate impact in providing much needed help for many of the 8,500 at-risk women in Queensland facing critical homeless situations.

“The Handy Guide will be a vital tool for homeless women in regional Queensland. It contains contacts for emergencies, accommodation, food and welfare, employment, legal assistance, community specialists, health and counselling services for homeless women,” said Lyon Reid.

“This regional update, both in print and online, is the next step in making vital social services accessible to as many Australian women in need as possible. It’s all part of our mission to help homeless women in Queensland. By expanding our services to regional areas, we can really make a difference to those needing to access crucial services.”