BENDIGO community service provider Amicus plans to develop its former site into affordable and accessible housing for people with a disability.
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The non-for-profit organisation moved into a new home at 100 Queen Street in January last year.
Chief executive Ann-Maree Davis said the idea to redevelop the former site at Cecil Street in North Bendigo into housing for people with a disability had been in the pipeline for about 18 months.
She said access to accommodation for people with a disability kept families awake at night.
"For many years, families haven't had certainty about what arrangements will be put in place for their family member with a disability if they passed away. It's something that worries lots of families," she said.
Amicus held a clearing sale last weekend to auction off buildings at the old site.
Ms Davis said the site was perfect for residential accommodation and the service provider would spend time researching different housing development ideas.
"We really want to achieve a community feel because one of the most important things in the work we are doing is that people are going to be included in their community," she said.
"We want people to have valued roles.
"In the past, people would have the role of person with a disability but what we are trying to do is get people jobs, get people volunteering, get people going to school.
"All of a sudden it becomes a valued role."
Ms Davis said housing for people with a disability typically consisted of five or six bedroom dwellings.
She said residents were often required to live with people they didn't know.
"We will be more in keeping with the community's needs. We don't want to build big share houses. We can all compare it to our own less than ordinary experiences of share houses but the difference is we have the opportunity if someone is being bossy or not pulling their weight, to do something about it," she said.
Ms Davis said Amicus' new site in the central business district was a positive move.
"It's one of the biggest changes we have had in the history of our organisation. It's really supported people with a disability to be more actively included," she said.
"It's also raised our organisational profile. People know who we are."