Christmas is only a few weeks away and it’s a mad dash to the end of the year. Our annual DineSmart campaign is in full swing at 118 participating restaurants/cafes across four States. At the same time we have been busy finalising our CafeSmart 2019 collection and allocating our next round of Community Grants. This is what our work is all about…
It’s always exciting to bring you this news, which is the culmination of a huge amount of support and work from close to 850 small business partners across Australia. From Yahava KoffeeWorks in Margaret River in the West to Allpress Espresso in Byron Bay in the East, and from Cygnet Woodfired Bakehouse in Cygnet, Tasmania in the south to Besser Brew Bar in Darwin in the North, cafes, coffee roasters and customers all collaborated to be part of CafeSmart 2019. Their amazing support and commitment has now resulted in Community Grants making their way to 173 charity organisations in the communities where our cafe partners operate.
Funding front-line homelessness and community services, in local communities, is what CafeSmart is all about – and we are excited to finally share the results and the funded projects with you.
This year we are supporting 173 organisations with $203,070 of funding (that takes CafeSmart to a tally of $1.2 million). With public funding uncertainty, many important organisations find it hard to test good ideas, extend proven programs, or fully fund their core work. Through our Community Grants organisations get to direct funds to their priority areas and fill funding gaps.
Pictured above are Catherine Ryan (l) and Amy Gardner(r), volunteers from West Welcome Wagon …
“West Welcome Wagon is extremely grateful to StreetSmart and your entire network of volunteers, supporters and donors. Our commitment to fully support asylum seekers, refugees and other needy newcomers to our region sees us maintain support for over 500 needy households. Funds provided to us by StreetSmart enables us to help vulnerable families and individuals by supplying them with needy linen and bedding. We are fortunate to receive substantial donations of beds and mattresses from our generous supporters and StreetSmart’s funds turn these into a haven for our beneficiaries in their own home. We are now planning to expand into other geographic regions to extend the impact of our support. We treasure being a part of StreetSmart’s family of beneficiaries and love seeing how many other worthy grant recipients are performing extraordinarily to address the entire scope of homelessness.”
Chris Scerri, Chairman, West Welcome Wagon
The organisations we have supported show a dynamic mix of local responses to support people experiencing homelessness or at risk. Many offer emergency and crisis aid, provide meals, accommodation, medical support, therapy and longer term impacts such as job readiness skills training. For 17 years StreetSmart has also been seed funding and supporting start up social enterprises and projects and testing new responses to the homelessness crisis. Over the years we have funded and stood by many fledgling organisations who have blossomed into impactful organisations. This year is no different, and one of our grants is supporting The Underground Collaborative in Perth.
“Thank you so much StreetSmart for your generous support and donation. As an emerging grassroots social enterprise, it means a lot to have some financial assistance to achieve our mission in breaking the cycles of homelessness. These funds will make a great difference and allow us to train and employ people experiencing homelessness in our micro-café Ground+Co. Thank you also to the cafes that participate in the CafeSmart initiative – it’s this wonderful community love that helps smaller organisations like us make an impact in the community we’re all part of.”
Katie Liew, Founder/CEO
A Small Grants Snap Shot…
ACT: $1100 to Karinya House to support accommodation for women who are pregnant or early parenting and in crisis.
NSW: $1000 to Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Organisation to provide support, and community-based services to Aboriginal women and families in inner city Sydney.
NT: $1400 to Larrakia Nation to provide street based outreach services in Darwin.
QLD: $500 to Mount Gravatt Community Centre to provide emergency relief to people sleeping rough including hygiene products.
SA: $1000 to Murray Bridge Community Centre, to purchase a fridge/freezer for food donations to be stored in.
TAS: $1100 to A Paw Up to provide food and kennelling for companion animals of people experiencing homelessness.
VIC: $1770 to First Step to provide material aid to vulnerable women escaping family violence and accessing their rehabilitation services.
WA: $1250 to Perth Inner City Youth Service to support the Base Camp project including the provision of fresh groceries, non-perishable foods, personal hygiene and bathroom items.
For a full listing of where the funds have gone, in each State, to support your communities, check out these detailed grant listings:
ACT Grants
NSW Grants
NT Grants
QLD Grants
SA Grants
TAS Grants
VIC Grants
WA Grants
We’d like to thank the Australian Communities Foundation and the Alf & Meg Steel Fund, B B & A Miller Fund and Story Street Fund for matching our Lead Grants, doubling our impact for these organisations.
And a final word from a new grant recipient…
“Sunny Street is incredibly grateful to receive support from StreetSmart! This donation assists our team to continue providing outreach medical services to Australians experiencing homelessness and complex vulnerabilities. Our volunteer Doctors, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, Paramedics and Team Leaders have conversations, and provide health education, immunisations, sexual health screening, wound care, support around mental health issues & substance use, and referrals into mainstream healthcare services. Information on the Sunny Street service can be found at www.sunnystreet.org. Thank you StreetSmart for your support!”
Sonia Goodwin, Co-Founder & Nursing Director
Our final note is a huge THANK YOU to all our roaster and café supporters, along with our sponsors, funders and supporters. None of this could happen without your commitment, loyalty and willingness to get involved. CafeSmart is a massive community effort and for that we are thankful.
We hope to see you all in 2020 for our 10th annual CafeSmart day!
(You can read more about our top fundraisers here.)
2019 Principal Sponsor:
2019 Supported by:
2019 Media Partners:
2019 Roaster Partners:
