ADOPT CHANGE (ACT/SA) $10,000

Carer Online Loungeroom: Providing a Covid-safe way to support carers working with children who have experienced trauma

Adopt Change supports families and communities in caring for displaced children (including those in foster care or orphaned) to achieve a vision of a world where all children grow, learn, play and thrive in a safe, nurturing and stable environment.  Adopt Change’s Carer Online Lounge Room program is a COVID safe and accessible way to continue to provide carers with the skills and resources to care for children who have experienced trauma and abuse. Access to this program contributes to placement stability and improved life outcomes for children in care.

This grant is supporting Adopt Change to expand the program, which has run over 14 sessions with carers since March 2020, to include support for care leavers, especially youth transitioning from out-of-home care.

BATYR (ACT/SA) $17,000

Supporting the mental health of the next generation

Batyr is a for-purpose preventative mental health organisation, created and driven by young people, for young people. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 and resulting lockdowns, over 60% of young people have reported struggling with stress and feelings of isolation. Sadly, many are not sharing these feelings of heightened anxiety, nor are they reaching out for help with their friends, family or professional services. Batyr is now working with schools to help young people through this difficult period.

By facilitating peer-to-peer sharing and empowering students to reach out, Batyr is promoting early help-seeking to avoid crisis care. Funding is supporting Batyr to facilitate programs in schools across the ACT and SA.

GIVE WHERE YOU LIVE (VIC) $20,000

Providing grants for social connection and food relief

The Give Where You Live Foundation (GWYL) exists to address disadvantage across the Geelong region.

Funding has enabled GWYL to distribute four grants of $5,000 each to organisations promoting social connection and/or providing food relief in the Geelong region during the Covid-19 crisis. GWYL has suggested the following recipient organisations: Bluebird Foundation, Drummond Street Services, OneCare Geelong, and Wellways Australia.

HAMLET (TAS) $5,000

Supporting disadvantaged Tasmanians through work experience and food relief

Hamlet is a social enterprise delivering targeted training and work readiness skills in order to tackle the barriers, which prevent disadvantaged Tasmanians from participating in work and community life. As Tasmania went into its Covid-19 lockdown, Hamlet started a food relief partnership with Hobart City Mission, providing meals to those in need. This has provided extra work for work experience participants.

Funding is supporting Hamlet to expand their work experience programs and introduce workshops to provide specific job readiness skills.

MIGRANT RESOURCE CENTRE TASMANIA (TAS) $10,000

Multicultural Youth Tasmania: Providing tailored and individual support to migrants and refugees

Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania (MRC Tas) provides targeted and meaningful services to meet the needs of migrants, humanitarian entrants and refugees living in Tasmania. MRC Tas have launched the Multicultural Youth Tasmania program to provide tailored and individual support to multicultural young people who have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The program seeks to prepare and support multicultural young people to participate in training and apprenticeships in the building and construction industry.

This grant is supporting MRC Tas to launch the program and create links between potential employers and interested young people.

OZ ASSIST (VIC) $5,000

Providing crisis care and relief to vulnerable people

Oz Assist provide crisis care in the Mornington Peninsular to people who are vulnerable, including those that have lost employment, lost hours of employment, have high medical bills, elderly and may not be receiving financial support during the Covid-19 crisis.

Funding is supporting Oz Assist to provide petrol and food vouchers, deliver food parcels, provide care and check in on people while they are isolating or cannot leave home, support people obtain medical needs, provide transport to medical appointments and help people navigate Centrelink.

SALTBUSH SOCIAL ENTERPRISES (NT) $5,000

Providing innovative Indigenous employment opportunities and supporting business development

Saltbush Social Enterprises (Saltbush) work to provide opportunities that create prosperity parity for marginalised Australians in the Northern Territory. All programs and activities have an underlining focus on providing innovative Indigenous employment opportunities, career advancement, and small and micro-business development.

This grant will enable Saltbush to continue its programs at a time when the Northern Territory is seeing a rise in unemployment due to lack of tourism and other industries that have been affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

SISTERS INSIDE (QLD) $10,000

Prison2Home: Supporting women existing prison with ‘release packs’

Sisters Inside is an independent community organisation advocating for the collective human rights of women and girls in prison. The August Covid-19 outbreak amongst staff at the Brisbane children’s prison demonstrates the vulnerability of prisoners to infection. Prisons are particularly unsafe and unsanitary environments with even less access to hand hygiene and social distancing than other institutional facilities. Sisters Inside is dedicated to reducing women and girls’ risk of exposure to Covid-19, through optimising the number released from prison. The Prison2Home project seeks to optimise women and girls’ ability to live safely and securely following release from prison, through provision of ‘release packs’.

This grant supported Sisters Inside to provide 20 packs at $500 each, typically including soap and other toiletries, bedding, clothes, cooking appliances, and public transport cards.

STREETSMART AUSTRALIA (NSW/QLD/VIC/WA) $20,000

SmartCare: Providing grants for mental and physical wellbeing programs at smaller homelessness organisations

StreetSmart supports and funds grassroots homelessness projects across Australia. In response to the increased demand homelessness organisations have experienced during Covid-19, StreetSmart has launched the SmartCare program to help fund mental and physical wellbeing programs at smaller homelessness organisations.

Funding has enabled StreetSmart to distribute nine grants (of up to $3,000 each) to support organisations in providing self-care packages, team-building sessions, wellbeing days, counselling, and external one-on-one supervision for caseworkers.

WOMENCAN AUSTRALASIA (VIC) $30,000

The Placement Circle: Connecting women to training and work

WomenCAN Australasia assists women become work capable, strong and independent – independent of government and other social assistance. They do this by connecting women to training, work, and a community of supportive peers through The Placement Circle. It is well documented that women workers especially in Victoria, have been the hardest hit as a result of the Covid-19 recession – 8.1% of the female workers have lost their jobs. 

Funding is supporting the ongoing employment of a caseworker and operations manager so that WomenCAN can continue to deliver The Placement Circle program and provide job pathways for women.