The historic building will be a safe, secure and stable place for homeless students to live while they work on their education and career.

With a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom self-contained units, the school can accommodate up to 26 residents.

The Samaritans project is based on the UK Foyer model that acknowledges the link between youth homelessness and unemployment.

It is estimated that every night 400 Hunter youth go homeless.

Samaritans youth caseworker Carrie Bock said the service would give young people committed to studying in a vocational area the opportunity to stay in school, obtain qualifications and work.

‘‘This will open so many more doors and offer more choices for young people in our community,’’ Ms Bock said.

‘‘We know with homeless young people it’s incredibly challenging to maintain access to education.

‘‘Whether they’re sleeping rough, couch surfing, many don’t know where they’ll wake up the next day.’’

The Wickham building, valued at $3 million, was sold by Newcastle City Council to the Samaritan Foundation for just $1 last July.

The school was built in 1904 and closed in 1976.

A state heritage listing, the building was transferred to the council in 1996 for the nominal price of $2 and converted to student accommodation.

The council decided early last year to offload it due to increasing management and maintenance costs.

Samaritans accommodation service strategic manager Greg Colby said research showed that using a landmark building for this type of housing service was the most effective because it gave residents a sense of pride in their surroundings and themselves.

‘‘You can’t contribute value to the community if you don’t think you have worth yourself,’’ he said.