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Grant Impact

StreetSmart Supporters Step Up to Fund Vital Relief in Flood Zones

By 20 Years Highlights, Community Grants, Grant Impact, Recovery Fund, StreetSmart News

 When a natural disaster strikes and the impact is felt as wide-spread as the recent floods, we can feel overwhelmed. As individuals it’s often hard to know where to direct our support. How do we know who is in the most need? Who can we trust to get the job done? Will my small donation make a difference? These are all valid questions, especially in the immediate aftermath. Recent experiences of people waiting for bush fire relief and assistance resulted in many people being put off from donating, supporting the responding charities. This is understandable, but ignores the fact that  thousands of volunteers and hundreds of local organisations are jumping straight in to assist people, and they need our support.

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Supporting ‘Back to School and Education’ Programs

By Community Grants, Grant Impact, StreetSmart News

img abc.com.au


The starting of a new school year is a stressful and anxious time for low-income families
experiencing financial hardship. With children starting back at school, and young people trying to stay engaged in education and training, the costs really add up quickly and come all at once. No parent wants their child to miss out, and many young people who are forced to live independently want to stay in education and complete their studies. Read More

SleepSafe – A safe night’s sleep for 37,000 vulnerable Australians

By COVID-19, Grant Impact, News, SleepSafe
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

SmartCare grants supporting the mental & physical wellbeing of frontline workers

By Grant Impact, Projects StreetSmart, SmartCare

Bolton Clarke staff picnic funded by SmartCare

Last year was tough. Many of the small organisations we support were on the frontline looking after our most vulnerable and keeping them safe. Many charities saw revenues fall while demand on their services increased and they continued to reach out and provide vital support.

Frontline homelessness case work is distressing and enormously stressful. Staff burnout happens regularly. Workers often suffer ‘vicarious trauma’ as a result of being regularly exposed to distressing material or stories.

That’s why we set up SmartCare. It is an innovative program providing support to our frontline workers. People caring for marginalised and disadvantaged people often don’t take the time or have the necessary tools to look after their own mental and physical wellbeing. In order for charities to retain talented, caring and professional people they need to make sure their staff is supported. So, we stepped in. The StreetSmart community rallied together and donated to enable us to provide 15 grants in November. This meant for the first time in a long while or first time ever, charities could provide team building sessions, self-care initiatives, personal counselling and reward programs.

Here is what it meant to the organisations and their staff…

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Generous CafeSmart Supporters Fund 87 Community Grants

By CafeSmart, Grant Impact, StreetSmart Projects
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.

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StreetSmart Helps FareShare Provide Food Relief and Employment

By COVID-19 Emergency Response Grants, DineSmart, Grant Impact, News
William and Lorena working at Fare Share

Visa holders William and Lorena working at FareShare

In March, as COVID-19 hit, we saw food relief programs, community kitchens and soup vans ceasing to operate. Anxiety about the virus, social distancing recommendations and a dependence on vulnerable older volunteers meant quick closures.  This left vulnerable people without their usual support and social connections. We also heard from our hospitality partners that they had been hit hard and many vulnerable staff were likely to suffer dis-proportionally.

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