OUR ASSOCIATES
BUSES 4 HOMELESS
Buses 4 Homeless is a UK based organisation that seeks to help the homeless by providing a variety of spaces for them. To do this they have taken decommissioned double decker buses and refurbished them for use by those suffering from homelessness.
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From accommodation to education, Buses 4 Homeless has created a low-cost system that recycles disused resources to provide a safe space for the homeless. Having a lower overhead also allows them to put more into their project.
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In our consultations Dan Atkins, the founder of Buses 4 Homeless, we began to form a strategy specific to our home. An industrial town at heart, Newcastle has an abundance of disused warehouses that will allow us the space to create a community.
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CHANGE PLEASE AND HOMIE
Homelessness can be like a deep pit, easy to fall into but immensely difficult to climb out of. Without the means to buy new clothes or pursue further education, employability can plummet. Social Enterprises like Change Please from the UK and HoMie in Melbourne offer a ladder for those suffering from homelessness to make their way out of the pit.
Both Change Please and HoMie provide training and a living wage to those less fortunate, while also breaking down the stigma of homelessness. These groups raise employability with training and fair wages, directly contributing to a solution.
Businesses like these show that it is possible to have a functional business that is helping to solve issues within our community. When planning our own enterprise, we looked to see how we could make it stand on its own two feet while providing the support for those suffering from homelessness to do the same.
BUILT FOR ZERO
The Built for Zero initiative by Community Solutions in America is an outstanding example of the solvability of Homelessness. Working with a variety of structures, Built for Zero tackles homelessness one city at a time.
Aiming for a status they call Functional Zero, they create impressive homelessness response systems that result in any experience of homelessness being short lived and permanently resolved.
One of their key principles is the need for up to date data, and many of their systems are related to how to collect current data on a daily basis so that their solutions are tailored to the problem.
In Australia, most of our data concerning homelessness is four years old. This means until the census next year we do not even know what we are trying to combat, let alone sufficiently plan a solution. PatchWorks would aim to provide as much data as we can on homelessness in Newcastle so we can truly help those suffering from it.
PERIOD PROJECT AND DIGNITY DRIVE
Suffering from homelessness often means more than a lack of shelter. It represents a lack of basic necessities, some of which we take for granted. Dignity Drive and The Period Project provide sanitation and hygiene products to women, non-binary people and trans men suffering from homelessness or housing stress.
These products are a requirement that is often put the side in favour of the more pressing needs associated with homelessness. The products provided in these packs address a huge need in the homeless community are part of ensuring that they are looked after with dignity.
These groups showed us that when looking at an issue as complex and life threatening as Homelessness, sometimes we overlook the simple things that can have a huge impact. In the rush to find housing, food and other necessities, hygiene is often sidelined.
During the course of planning PatchWorks, we have cultivated a relationship with both of these organisations. Their work and services are a vital need within the homeless community and we hope to provide a focal point for their packs here in Newcastle.
HUNTER HOMELESS CONNECT
Hunter Homeless Connect (HHC) is a Newcastle based group that acts as a gateway for businesses and people to get involved in helping those less fortunate.
They organise the annual Hunter Homeless Connect Day Event, an event that brings much needed services to not only the homeless but those at risk of homelessness. Free haircuts, food, immunisations are just some of the services that Hunter Homeless Connect facilitates for those in our community that are suffering from homelessness or housing stress.
Their underlying principle is community and they strive to create an inclusive environment free from judgment. This focus tackles one of the biggest challenges when trying to combat homelessness, dehumanisation.
Our goal to foster a sense of community and belonging for those suffering from homelessness as well as provide a voice for their struggles. This has been the focus in creating PatchWorks, sown into every fibre of organisation, and with our close relationship to HHC we will be in a position to offer a permanent space for their services.
