Our recent Winter Appeal raised funds to help vulnerable Australians experiencing homelessness, poverty and rental stress. Thanks to those donors, supporters, corporates and philanthropists who took part in the appeal – your collective efforts have meant $180,000 in housing support and food relief for those facing homelessness.
As Australia grapples with the deepening and costly homelessness crisis, leaders are advocating for an uptake of more creative and innovative approaches like ‘meanwhile use’ and ‘change of use’ projects. StreetSmart have funded ‘meanwhile use’ projects before and have recently collaborated with grant recipient Bridge It, in Melbourne, to fund another much-needed innovation to reduce youth homelessness.
Our annual CafeSmart campaign is a mere 2 weeks away and with hundreds of Cafe’s across the country getting ready to don their windows in yellow and start fundraising, we reflect on the power of this community led fundraiser in creating real change for people at risk or experiencing homelessness.
Homelessness week is around the corner in August (Monday 7 to Sunday 13) with the theme of ‘it’s time to end homelessness.’ Schools for Change is helping classrooms and communities across Australia to learn, engage, and advocate during this important week.
We are incredibly excited to have just wrapped up our latest SleepSafe distribution, bringing the total number of distributed kits to over 100,000! That is over 100,000 moments of care, dignity and comfort provided to people in crisis and facing hardship. Without the generosity of Sheridan customers and the day in and day out advocacy of their staff for our SleepSafe collaboration, this impact would not have been possible.
We are in the thick of winter. For thousands of vulnerable people sleeping rough, the cold, damp nights make life difficult and dangerous. Their situation is perilous, with every hour spent outside impacting their health and wellbeing. Our housing and homelessness crisis is also a healthcare crisis and this month, we are raising funds to ensure people experiencing homelessness can access critical healthcare.
For too many people food and groceries are an optional extra. As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, more and more people are skipping meals to pay their rent, power and other bills. Many are turning to local charities for food relief, for the first time in their lives, and local food banks are struggling to keep up with demand, often running out of basic staple items. That’s why we have just boosted funding to 10 food relief programs, distributing a total of $80,000 so that people in acute hardship can be supported. We are continuing this support and are calling on you, our network, to join us and give what you can, or share with your networks.
With support from our regular donors to the SmartMeals program, and corporate support we have just made seven grants to provide food relief to people experiencing acute disadvantage while supporting employment and training opportunities.
It’s been a special year for our annual DineSmart campaign which celebrated two decades of collaborative impact with the hospitality industry. Last month we held a 20th Anniversary Fundraising Dinner to recognise this incredible milestone and scale up the impact of the fundraising throughout DineSmart December. The event was a roaring success and has brought this year’s DineSmart tally to $176,723 in funds for employment, training and education programs for vulnerable people.
We know that young people are disproportionately impacted by the current housing crisis and face multiple barriers to securing any kind of accommodation. The result is rising youth homelessness. Currently there is no national strategy or adequate funding to address this situation for thousands of our young people. That’s why in April we raised funds to support three youth services in regional centres.
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We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the unceded lands on which our organisation is located and where we conduct our business. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present. StreetSmart is committed to honouring Indigenous peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society.
StreetSmart is an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming workplace that values diversity of expression. We know that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are particularly vulnerable to experiencing homelessness and we partner with organisations that work to support people in need, without discrimination or prejudice.
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