Back in August, 285 Cafes and 45 Coffee Roasters partnered up for CafeSmart 2021, an incredible effort during lockdowns and difficult times for the industry and our communities. This week, due to everyone’s generosity, we have been able to make 96 community grants, valued at $169,000 to support people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
In Australia, there are more than 3.24 million people or 13.6% of the population living below the poverty line. That includes 774,000 children or more than 1 in 6. In a country like Australia, this doesn’t have to be the case, but successive Governments have ignored the warning signs and continue to ignore the policies that could drastically improve the lives of people on low incomes. Poverty, hunger, homelessness and domestic violence are all interwoven, and all impact someone’s health, well-being, life expectancy and opportunities. It’s very bad for the person, and for us all, yet our Governments chose not to act. Read More
Setting up someone for tenancy success is a vital part of any homeless support service but funding for household items is hard to come by. This is where StreetSmart’s ‘Making-a-Home’ initiative steps in. Read More
Our SleepSafe campaign launched in August 2019, so has just turned two. We have been blown away by the support from donors – in particular over the past 12-months – where we have almost tripled (+274%) our impact, raising $410,000.
To date, the program has raised more than half a million dollars, which will help over 37,000 vulnerable Australians who are at risk or experiencing homelessness. Read More
Not even a global pandemic or lockdowns can dampen the community spirit of the coffee community, who are uniting to take action against homelessness through CaféSmart (2 – 8 August).
During Homelessness Week 2021 cafes across all states and territories are becoming homelessness advocates by raising awareness about the devastating crisis facing thousands of Australians without a home, and encouraging customers to dig deep to help provide vital funding. Cafes will also be donating $1 per coffee sold on Friday 6 August. What a huge effort in such a tough year.
At the same time as youth services have seen a significant rise in demand due to COVID-19, many smaller independent organisations have seen a fall in fundraising revenue as their community fundraising came to a halt. In line with Youth Homelessness Matters Day in April, the team at StreetSmart raised funds from our supporters to provide funding to youth services and assist young people experiencing the fall out from the pandemic. All six youth programs we supported through our Recovery Fund have seen fundraising income fall over the past 12 months. One organisation lost $1 million of critical fundraising revenue, another had seen revenue drop to $0:
“Our community fundraising income for the 2020 calendar year was zero, missing our target of $85,000 per annum. Our social enterprise income for the 2020 calendar year was also down 50% on our forecasted income.”
During 2020 everything changed, most fundraising events were heavily impacted or cancelled. The 10th running of our annual CafeSmart event was one of these events. At first, we thought it would be cancelled outright as the hospitality industry was shut down. However, our sponsors, roasters and café community rallied and insisted CafeSmart go ahead to help continue our work to support people experiencing homelessness, especially during the challenges of 2020.
If we want to end homelessness, we must also end poverty. Two major policy responses to substantially reduce poverty, and homelessness, have been put forward strongly for at least a decade. Both could also have a substantial impact as an economic stimulus as we navigate the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, immediately lift Job Seeker payments permanently and secondly, build more public and social housing. Read More
Frontline homelessness case work is often distressing and enormously challenging work which can result in anguish, stress and a feeling of hopelessness for workers. Staff burnout happens regularly. Then along came COVID-19.
Back in August, 285 Cafes and 45 Coffee Roasters partnered up for CafeSmart 2021, an incredible effort during lockdowns and difficult times for the industry and our communities. This week, due to everyone’s generosity, we have been able to make 96 community grants, valued at $169,000 to support people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
