Congratulations to our 2022 $100,000 Primary Grant Recipient 

Bridge for Asylum Seekers

Bridge for Asylum Seekers is a volunteer organisation that provides a living allowance to asylum seekers for food, clothes and pharmaceuticals. The allowance also enables transport and phone access, allowing contact with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), pro bono or unfunded legal representatives and caseworkers, while also supporting access to English-language classes, community activities and, importantly, employment opportunities. To prevent homelessness, Bridge also provides a rental allowance (an average of $85 per week per client) to at least 70% of their clients. Asylum seekers are in desperate straits but are currently being turned away due to insufficient funds. Based upon Bridge for Asylum Seekers 2020-21 experience, 203 clients across greater Sydney and NSW will need assistance in 2022-23.

IMPACT100 Sydney North’s funding will support living and rent allowances for at least 77 people seeking asylum who would otherwise be hungry, and in some cases homeless, for up to 8 weeks each.

 

Congratulations to our 2022 $40,000 Impact Grant Recipient

StreetWork

StreetWork is seeking support for its PRIDE Empowerment Program which is delivered in partnership with StreetWork YouthCase Workers, professional psychologists (e.g. KYDS, Headspace, North Psych) and a qualified fitness instructor. StreetWork aims to address barriers to overcoming psychological distress by empowering young people to improve their personal capabilities and ability to respond to life stressors and promoting protective factors in young people’s lives through social bonding, community involvement and skill development. Prevention/early intervention programs like the PRIDE Empowerment Program are a low-cost and effective approach, critical in helping divert young people from risk-taking behaviours. The program seeks to remove barriers to overcoming psychological distress, alleviate long-term disadvantage and promote general wellbeing.

IMPACT100 Sydney North’s funding will support the PRIDE Empowerment Program including Youth Case Workers, fitness instructors, psychologists, event/facilities hire, food expenses for young people; graduation expenses, networking opportunities for StreetWork, and program coordination, data analysis, evaluation reporting and grant acquittal.

 

Congratulations to our 2022 $20,000 Impact Grant Recipients

Eat Up Australia

Eat Up’s mission is to feed hungry students so they can grow, learn, and succeed. Since 2014, Eat Up has delivered 1.8M+ free lunches to over 700 schools across Australia. EatUp currently supports approximately 85,000+ school kids. They are the only national provider of free school lunch programs and receive no government funding. Their goal is to continue to provide a critical lunchtime food relief program for disadvantaged students. 1 in 5 Australian children experienced food-insecurity in the past 12 months (Foodbank, 2020). Missing meals has a big impact on a child’s growth, development, and learning-leading to fatigue, illness, challenging behaviour, and poor learning outcomes. Hunger contributes to the disadvantage cycle, with children falling further behind their peers in school. “When kids are hungry, they can’t concentrate, when kids can’t concentrate, they can’t learn!”- Linda Richards, Primary School Principal.

IMPACT100 Sydney North’s funding will help provide lunch for school kids in the Greater Sydney region.

 

Mary’s House

Mary’s House Services is tackling the issue of domestic violence and abuse and its impact on women and children. On average, one woman is murdered by her current or former partner every week in Australia. This year, 21 women have already lost their lives to family or domestic abuse in Australia. Mary’s House’s mission it to offer hope, compassion and safety to women and children who have experienced domestic violence and abuse through the provision of quality services, advocacy and mobilising change in our community. This financial year, they received over 249 new referrals and provided support to over 145 families. Demand has increased by almost 70% since last year and Mary’s House has provided support to an additional 40 women and their children. The Daisy Centre, is a specialised, integrated support service masked within a large shopping hub, that provides professional and individually tailored case management for women who have and are experiencing domestic abuse.

IMPACT100 Sydney North’s funding will support the work of the Daisy Centre. 

 

Congratulations to our 2022 Semi-finalists

Be Centre

Be Centre is based in Northern Sydney and offers age-appropriate mental health support through play therapy for children aged 3-12 years (and their parents/carers) impacted by trauma such as domestic violence, neglect, abuse, illness, grief, bullying, family breakdown, parental drug/alcohol abuse and other serious life challenges. Children are referred by a professional including GPs, paediatricians, school counsellors, other allied health professionals, and community services such as the Department of Communities and Justice. They also deliver a trauma-based program to teachers called Teacher’s Optimal Relationship Approach (TORA). This is a frontline approach to support early intervention mental health support for children and is derived from the theoretical knowledge and skills within play therapy and filial therapy. Results across the three pilots schools who implemented TORA show significant shifts in student engagement with their teacher and their peers, as well as a reduction in challenging difficulties such as conduct, hyperactivity and peer relationships.

Dandelion Support Network

Dandelion works to improve the safety and well-being of children from disadvantaged families by providing early intervention in the form of essential nursery items. It operates from a Caringbah warehouse, with additional collection points in Maroubra, Manly, Castle Hill and Woonona. Dandelion accepts, sorts, cleans and distributes donations of new and pre-loved clothing, toys, linen, cots, prams, bassinets and car seats. Social workers contact Dandelion with referrals and collect the items, often within days, to meet the urgent need. Since starting over ten years ago, Dandelion has supported over 13,000 vulnerable families. In the last 12 months through partnering with 675 social workers in Greater Sydney and Illawarra, they have helped 1969 families, and 3680 children; providing essential nursery items for their babies and children. The disadvantaged families who benefit  include mothers and children escaping domestic violence, refugees and asylum seekers, Aboriginal Australians, families living with mental health diagnoses, young parents, families living with or at risk of homelessness, families with a child living with a disability and families who have been financially impacted by the pandemic.

Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter

Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter (NBWS) provided crisis accommodation for 26 women, transitional accommodation to 41 women and outreach support to 74, totalling 141 women supported in the last financial reporting period. Currently, NBWS turns away 13 women per month, over 150 women a year. This number is growing, but there is no room to accommodate them. NBWS seeks to raise more funds to access more accommodation, so they can assist more women, giving them the option to leave domestic violence, abusive relationships, and reduce homelessness on the Northern Beaches. Mosman House is currently supported by volunteers, assisting with administration and general operations. NBWS currently does not have the funds or recourses for a Domestic Violence and Housing Placement Specialist worker to support the Mosman House Coordinator with intensive case management.

The Humour Foundation

Children/young people are hospitalised at The Children’s Hospital for various health conditions including chronic illness, injuries and palliative care. Many are transferred from other hospitals, including from rural/remote areas. The experience can be very traumatic, eg children may be scared due to unfamiliar surroundings, being separated from family/out of routine/fearful of treatment, unable to comprehend their medical procedures, adolescents may suffer anxiety about the unknown. Clown Doctors aim to tackle these issues by offering critical support for hospital staff treating highly distressed children, and families suffering chronic stress in witnessing their child’s pain and anxiety. The program uses evidence-informed, humour therapy to address both physiological and psychological needs, distracting sick/frightened children, empowering long-term patients, encouraging resilience, providing respite for anxious parents, and supporting hospital staff. It is fully funded by The Humour Foundation (THF), at no cost to the hospital and supports 29,000 inpatient admissions, 51,000 emergency presentations and 961,000 out patient services annually.