Margaret Tucker Hostel morning tea and tour of Melton for Reconciliation Week.  

This week is Reconciliation Week 2024! Hope Street welcomed Worrell Blow, Manager from the Margaret Tucker Hostel for a Morning Tea and tour at the Melton First Response Youth Service Refuge on Wurundjeri country.

Worrell is a Yorta Yorta/Goreng Goreng woman from Victoria and has worked at the hostel since 2012. Worrell shared some of the history of Aboriginal community services in Melbourne for the team to learn about this significant work being done for and by mob.  Worrell also shared the history of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who established the Margaret Tucker Hostel. 

Margaret Tucker Hostel provides supported crisis accommodation services and support to young Aboriginal women and children aged 15-18 years who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The hostel was named after Aunty Margaret Tucker MBE who was a survivor of the Stolen Generation and respected leader and activist for Aboriginal rights.

As a purpose-built facility for young people and young families experiencing homelessness, the Melton First Response Youth Service Refuge showcases through this collaboration, elements of design that Margaret Tucker Hostel may consider in re-building for their Hostel as a purpose designed centre for their young women.

This event was attended by Hope Street staff from all five sites to hear Worrell’s insights and sharing of information that led to the development of Aboriginal specific services.  The significance and importance of Aboriginal established, governed, managed and operated services was acknowledged by all.  Hope Street and Margaret Tucker Hostel are keen to develop shared learnings and have recently signed a MOU outlining key activities to achieve together for the benefit of young people, their children and the teams with both agencies.  

Hope Street and the Margaret Tucker Hostel are committed to supporting each other’s work in youth homelessness in a collaborative environment connected to country and community.  Central to the relationship is the spirit of the theme: Now More Than Ever.

Both Worrell Blow and Donna Bennett confirmed their commitment to Hope Street and Margaret Tucker Hostel embarking on this journey of walking together in reconciliation.

OZ Harvest and StreetSmart’s Sleep Safe  

Community partnerships help young people and young families experiencing homelessness.  

Thank you, Oz Harvest, and StreetSmart for the on-going community partnership with Hope Street to provide essential items to young people and young families experiencing homelessness. Food and a safe place to sleep are essential for dignity and wellbeing.  

Hope Street is currently engaging with long term partner StreetSmart through its partnership with Sheridan which creates Sleep Kits for people who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness. These kits have been delivered to different Hope Street youth housing programs as a practical way to support young people and young families.  Each kit contains a towel, fitted sheet, flat sheet and pillowcase and provides quality comfort to young people and young families as they are supported at Hope Street.  These Sleep Safe Kits give comfort, dignity, and practical support to vulnerable people in their time of crisis.   

In addition to the Sleep Kits, Oz Harvest through their initiatives for food wastage reduction deliver meals to Hope Street to keep the fridges and pantries full of the 7 young people and families in the supported youth housing Foyer-like program in Thomastown.   A welcome relief to young people who otherwise would not be eating three meals a day due to the cost of living.   

Oz Harvest has become a leading food rescue organisation on a mission to ‘Nourish our Country’ by stopping good food from going to waste and delivering it to charities that help feed people in need. Such successful programs ensure that food waste is reduced, whilst quality food is still able to be consumed in the local community. OZ Harvest make regular deliveries to Hope Street as part of their cause and the impact this has on young people being able to sustain their housing (rent) and independent living which means they are less likely to re-enter into rough sleeping due to cost of living forcing them out of tenancies.    

Thank you, Oz Harvest, and StreetSmart for your incredible mission and gift that goes a long way in enabling young people to sustain independent living!  

Hope Street welcomes budget announcements for homelessness as part of the Home Time campaign.

Win for children and young people in budget announcement!

Hope Street Youth and Family Services welcomes the recent media release from Federal Minister for Homelessness and Housing Julie Collins on a major policy announcement for homelessness and housing. For further information, please see Government's media release, Home Time media release, AAP story or ABC story for the full rundown and reaction.

As part of the Home Time campaign, Hope Street welcomes $1 billion from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) being allocated to young people with no home and women and their children escaping violence. This important announcement has the potential to support young people and young families fleeing domestic and family violence and seeking frontline services at Hope Street. This important funding is set to increase the supply of social housing, of which Melbourne’s north Hope Street is a strong advocate.

As a leading youth homelessness organisation, 22% of young people that use Hope Street services have experienced family and domestic violence in the last financial year. This has a significant impact on their sense of wellbeing and sense of safety. Young people experiencing homelessness in Australia is at crisis levels. As such, these much-needed resources to respond to youth homelessness in Victoria are vital for frontline services. Hope Street’s ability to respond to domestic and family violence with wrap around, case by case support is nation leading for youth homelessness. As such, further federal funding for the sector ensures that high quality support can be offered to young people and young families in crisis. Hope Street welcomes this financial injection into social housing and homelessness services and awaits further detail on the announcement to see how it can be applied to current successful service delivery outcomes with the Hope Street model.

“New resources to deliver crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence and young people at risk of homelessness will make a life-changing difference to each family and young person who will now have a safe home,” -Kate Colvin, Homelessness Australia.

As part of the Home Time campaign, targeting the NHIF to young people has been a major campaign ask over the past six months and Hope Street welcomes the decision. “It is time that young people be recognised as their own cohort when experiencing homelessness and fleeing domestic and family violence.” - Donna Bennett, Chief Executive Officer, Hope Street.

Donna Bennett, Hope Street Chief Executive Officer, is a long-term advocate and industry leader on the need to recognise children and young people in their own right when experiencing homelessness. Furthermore, for resources to be allocated accordingly with youth specific strategies and wrap-around support to be provided to young people and young families. “Currently only 0.4% of social housing and public housing is provided to young people, although they make up the largest cohort of homeless people in Australia. In Victoria, 25 percent of people experience homelessness are under the age of 25.”

According to the Home Time campaign, the new National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness (NASHH) needs to prioritise children and young people with no home and ensure that dedicated tenancies for young people are linked to support services and payments to cover the rental gap for providers.

That is the Home Time campaign’s next objective, and it will start having conversations at federal, state and territory levels immediately and will continue raising these issues in the media and with local MPs. Hope Street is committed to continue to support the Home Time campaign and to raise awareness for Hope Street’s nation leading First Response Youth Service – crisis response model as well as its youth housing foyer-like models operating in Melbourne’s north and west. As a nation leading frontline response, Hope Street has established and tested models with demonstrated success in achieving outcomes for young people in 5 domains: health and wellbeing; living skills; community connection; education, employment and training; tenancy management and budgeting. In collaboration with local and wider communities, Hope Street strives to achieve its vision of a society in which all young people and young families have a safe place to call home.

Donna Bennett gives speech at Property Industry Foundation event, ‘Steps for Homeless Youth.’ 

On a brisk, early morning at the beautiful Albert Park, Donna Bennett, Chief Executive Officer and Katie Hooper, Business Development and Partnerships Manager were pleased to attend the Property Industry Foundation Fun Run, 'Steps for Homeless Youth,' last week!  

This fantastic event for the property and construction industry was hosted by the Property Industry Foundation to raise funds and awareness for youth homelessness. It was great to see so many different organisations support the cause and register teams of runners and walkers to participate in the ‘Steps for Homeless Youth,’ Fun Run Marathon around Albert Park Lake. 

Katie was able to do a 5km lap around Albert Park Lake to represent the Hope Street team alongside hundreds of runners and walkers from different Property and construction companies including Mirvac, Egans, Plan Group, Revert, the Urban Developer, Ohh Media, Dalton Consulting Engineers and many more. 

Following the walk & run component, all participants were invited to attend a networking lunch with drinks, delicious canapes, food stations and prize presentations at The Park Melbourne function venue. Donna Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of Hope Street, gave the keynote speech thanking the Property Industry Foundation for selecting Hope Street as a beneficiary.   

Donna was able to use her speech to highlight that only 0.4% of social and public housing is allocated to young people, despite the homeless population in Victoria being 25% people under 25. 

It is through the partnership of Property Industry Foundation that the First Response Youth Refuge Centre has received important funding for the new build. Property Industry Foundation are supporting the build and fixtures for 8 youth refuge bedrooms and ensuites.  Donna described to the 600 supporters the benefits and meaningfulness of their generosity to the young people who will seek safe refuge at the new centre.     

The First Response Youth Refuge in the City of Whittlesea will support over 100 young people including young families each year with accommodation in this nation leading response to youth homelessness.   

Hope Street is proud to partner with the Property Industry Foundation.  As a key partner in the upcoming First Response Youth Service Centre build project, Property Industry Foundation’s incredible advocacy through this Fun Run is an important part of community collaboration to raise money and awareness for youth homelessness.