fbpx Skip to main content
Category

StreetSmart News

Supporting Jobs, Building Community, and Distributing 259,665 Meals

By Community Grants, SmartMeals, StreetSmart News

We launched SmartMeals back in March 2020, spurred on by a widespread need for food relief and employment support. With incredible community support and generosity SmartMeals has now run for 626 days, delivering 259,665 nutritious meals to local, at-risk communities, by partnering with and funding over 150 organisations across 6 states. SmartMeals has enabled this network of partners to not only to provide vulnerable people with food security, and deliver employment and training opportunities for disadvantaged workers, but to connect and collaborate with their local communities.
Read More

Anti-Poverty Week – We should all fight to end Poverty

By Community Grants, COVID-19, Homelessness in the news, Making a Home, StreetSmart News

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

CafeSmart powers local community groups

By CafeSmart, Homelessness in the news, Projects StreetSmart, StreetSmart News
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.

Read More

StreetSmart announces new Recovery Fund response for COVID-19 & natural disasters

By News, StreetSmart News
Updated 31st March 2021

Recovery Fund – Rebuild. Relief. Restore

StreetSmart has established a brand new ‘Recovery Fund’ to help support smaller homelessness service providers impacted by crises such as COVID-19 and natural disasters. Grants from this fund will help organisations adapt to the challenges they are facing, reinvigorate programs, rethink strategies, and build capacity and resilience. Grants will target organisations with a particular focus on people impacted heavily by the pandemic e.g. youth, women and children experiencing domestic violence, migrant and refugee communities, temporary visa holders, and the unemployed. Grants and resources will also be allocated to supporting charities impacted by the recent floods in New South Wales. Read More

SmartMeals Evolves to Provide Meals. Training. Jobs.

By COVID-19, SmartMeals, StreetSmart News
Banner
Our original SmartMeals program was established in March 2020 as an emergency response to COVID-19, providing nutritious meals for people impacted by the COVID-19 economic and health crisis, while also keeping vulnerable hospitality workers in jobs. SmartMeals used the under-utilised capacity of local cafes, restaurants and food based social enterprises, devastated by the pandemic, to provide 111,000 ready-made meals for their local overstretched homeless and community groups. Many meals went to feed people, moved rapidly off the streets, accommodated in hotels and motels.

Introducing the evolution of SmartMeals – Meals. Training. Jobs.

All meals will now be made by social enterprises, meaning vital job training, readiness and pathways programs for vulnerable people in a difficult jobs market. Read More

SmartMeals delivers nourishment, connection, and hope over 100,000 times

By COVID-19 Emergency Response Grants, DineSmart, SmartMeals, StreetSmart News
To every single donor who has supported our work since March – THANK YOU.  You have enabled us to distribute over 100,000 SmartMeals, through a network of 62 charity partners giving vulnerable people access to nutritious meals. The program has distributed $780,000 to 56 cafes, restaurants and food based social enterprises, keeping people employed. It’s been an extraordinary collaboration driven by community and philanthropy.

Read More