Launch Housing

Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours… so this week, we’re excited to welcome our friends HoMie Clothing to our Hub in Collingwood. 🏘️ Since 2016, HoMie has supported hundreds of young people in our programs with employment and personal development opportunities, empowering them to build the confidence and skills to reach their full potential. To celebrate this exciting co-location, we hosted a morning tea to officially welcome HoMie to their new work home. Our teams connected, shared insights, and explored new opportunities for collaboration. We're thrilled to be sharing this space with like-minded partners who share our vision and values. By becoming neighbours, we hope to strengthen our partnership and create lasting, life-changing impact for even more young people.

What do Alan Brough, ACMI, and Launch Housing have in common? We're joining forces to bring you The Great Launch Quiz!   Join us for an unforgettable evening of trivia and entertainment, hosted by Alan Brough from ABC's Spicks and Specks.   Guests will enjoy a sparkling reception, two-course meal with beverages, a unique quiz competition, plus a raffle and auction to raise vital funds for people experiencing homelessness as we head into the coldest nights of the year.   This is the perfect chance to gather colleagues, clients or customers and enjoy a fun-filled night for a great cause.    Seating is limited, so please reach out to partnerships@launchhousing.org.au for more information or to book your table.    You will not want to miss out on this event!

Our East St Kilda crisis accommodation site is celebrating International Women’s Day 2025, which falls on Saturday, March 8th. This year’s #IWD theme, "March Forward" calls for urgent and decisive steps toward achieving gender equality.  Gendered poverty and family violence are a primary cause of homelessness and women are more likely to use homelessness services.  As one of Melbourne's only homelessness crisis accommodation sites to accommodate and employ women only (including transgender women and gender-diverse people), Launch Housing East St Kilda (LHESK) provides a safe space with holistic, wrap-around support services.  More solutions that recognise the system issues women face are required. Our crisis accommodation rooms are guided by a feminist, trauma-informed framework, and provide more than just shelter, to help women rebuild their lives.  Since 1995, our Women’s Services have been a safe space for women in the Melbourne community.  Today, LHESK is celebrating women, with conversation centred around re-shaping and removing barriers to build a better future for women in our community. Special shout out to Blue Cup Melbourne Mobile Coffee Van for keeping us caffeinated today and to Kehlit Nitzan for the generous food donation! 🚙☕ #IWD2025 #ForAllWomenAndGirls.

We have some news to share.   After nearly 7 years, Bevan will bid a fond farewell and finish as CEO of Launch Housing, on the 6th of May.  Bevan shared some reflections and hopes for the future, as follows: "During my time with Launch Housing, I’ve seen our teams build trust to support thousands of people: Individuals and families in crisis, people experiencing or facing all forms of homelessness, people who others may choose to ignore, dismiss or stigmatise, but our team never has.   I’ve seen organisational strength and resilience at every turn. I’ve watched our support offer and housing portfolio grow, partnerships flourish and supporters rally to our side. Our values, our service philosophy, the ‘what makes us special’ have never wavered, nor let us down.  We can end homelessness with community support and must remain generous as we engage others in our cause. A legislated right to housing may be elusive, but with most Australians believing everyone needs a home, there are reasons to believe that housing insecurity, or having no home at all, can be a thing of the past. Launch Housing celebrates its 10th birthday later this year, a milestone built on the back of the pioneering work of our founding organisations since the mid1960’s. And I am beyond proud that harm minimisation, that is person and child centred, and therapeutic, still resonates in our work today.    Our principled belief in a common humanity has been ever present. I’m incredibly proud to have played a small part in that and I will be forever grateful for all the work our supporters, funders, and partners have enabled to help the lives of others.  I leave humbled that I could be part of such a story and confident that our talented staff and senior leaders can see us through to new horizons.”  A market search for our next CEO has commenced with an Acting CEO to be confirmed in coming weeks, to ensure the smoothest possible handover.  #launchhousing #endhomelessness

As a Community Housing Provider here in Melbourne, we are ready and willing to be a part of these solutions. We believe everyone deserves a safe night's sleep 💜

That's a wrap on the Melbourne Teams Corporate Triathlon 2025! 🏃♂️🚴♀️🏊♂️   What a day! Congratulations to everyone who took part and a huge thank you to the volunteers, fundraisers and our very own Launch Housing Triathlon teams who showed up to support people experiencing homelessness. We have raised over $16,000 and counting! Want to help us reach our goal? There's still time to make a difference by donating here: https://lnkd.in/g5nPgZsV   A special shout out to our partner O2 Events for all their hard work making the Melbourne Teams Corporate Triathlon possible.   Together, we can end homelessness. 

Our Executive Director of Housing Solutions, Christopher Trypas, is in Canberra this week at PowerHousing Australia.    At Launch Housing, we believe everyone deserves a safe night's sleep. We want a fair and affordable housing system that provides a safe, secure, home for all. 

We're thrilled to share that the amazing REA Group team will be competing in the upcoming Melbourne Teams Corporate Triathlon to raise $10,000 for Launch Housing.   "Through our 10-year partnership with Launch Housing, we've seen the life-changing impact of their work. That's why we've set ourselves a goal of raising $10,000, knowing this can help 13 families who have experienced homelessness start fresh in their new homes – covering everything from bond and rent to essential furniture and appliances," said Jason Sheridan, REA Group Triathlon Team Member.   Their dedicated team will be swimming, cycling, and running to help us deliver vital services and housing to support over 14,000 people in Melbourne each year.   Want to support REA's inspiring effort or fundraise with your own team? Every donation, no matter the size, brings another family closer to a place they can call home.   Join or support the challenge here - https://lnkd.in/g5nPgZsV  

Important new analysis from the The Foyer Foundation shows the top 20 toughest places in Australia for young people to find stable housing, land a job and finish school.  These hotspots are areas most in need of a solution that we know works: Youth Foyers which offer people aged 16-24 a safe, supported, home while they complete their education. We are proud to support the Foyer Foundation’s call for the Government to establish 10 new Youth Foyers across Australia, including 8 located within the top 20 hotspots. Youth foyers work, with a global track record spanning three decades, every $1 invested provides a $6 return through reduced welfare, justice, health and housing costs. Read the press release: https://lnkd.in/gyFFWuSf Pictures:  📷 Students at Broadmeadows Education First Youth Foyer 📷 Team members at Broadmeadows Education First Youth Foyer  📷 Welcome Home sign at Broadmeadows Education First Youth Foyer 📷 Glen Waverley Education First Youth Foyer  #10NewFoyers #BuildMoreFoyers

Today, kids around the country are packing their backpacks, putting on their new uniforms, and making their first journey to school for 2025. Thanks to our Education Pathways Program (EPP), they're joined by 196 kids who once didn't go to school, because they were experiencing homelessness. The EPP is one of the only programs in Victoria that supports children who are overcoming the trauma of homelessness and family violence to engage in school and address gaps in their learning. To prepare kids for the start of the school year, the EPP delivered their Prep for Preps Program which includes school readiness activities, story time, fun games, and info sessions for parent/carers. This program provides children with essential skills and builds their confidence so they're ready for school and are being supported to reach their full potential.   A big thank you to our generous EPP donors, each day this year, kids will go to school because your kindness made it possible.   Here's to a fantastic school year ahead! 🌟