Achievements and Awards
The Professor Mike Berry Award 2016 Winner Associate Professor Daphne Habibis Each year Housing Choices supports the Professor Mike Berry Award for Excellence in Housing Research. It highlights the achievements of key individuals and initiatives in the community housing sector. The 2016 award recipient was Associate Professor Daphne Habibis, Director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Research Centre at the University of Tasmania. Research is absolutely critical to finding the right solutions to Australia’s housing crisis, particularly for vulnerable Australians. Professor Habibis won the prestigious award for her work with remote Indigenous communities, an area in need of much support from the housing sector. Professor Habibis collaborated with the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing (NPARIH) and the University of Tasmania, where she has published extensively on tenancy sustainment and Indigenous needs.
Housing Choices’ commitment to community development initiatives reflect its proactive, strategic approach to developing and strengthening the communities and neighbourhoods in which it operates. This year Housing Choices in Tasmania and Housing Choices in Victoria each received a ‘Leading Community Engagement Practice’ Award at the 2017 Australasian Housing Institute (AHI) Professional Excellence Awards. “We were honoured to have been recognised in both states, considering the many innovative and powerful community engagement projects that take place nationally across the community sector,” said Managing Director, Michael Lennon.
VICTORIA CATEGORY: Leading Community Engagement Practice AWARDED FOR : Love Your Laneway Mural Project CATEGORY: Leading Innovation HIGHLY COMMENDED FOR : National Housing Service Standards In Victoria, Housing Choices was recognised for the fantastic Love Your Laneway mural project in Gallaghers Place in downtown Melbourne. This fantastic street art project enjoyed support from a range of parties, including major sponsor The City of Melbourne, our Gallaghers Place residents, artists Mike Maka and Conrad Bizjak, Wintringham Specialist Aged Care Services and a number of private businesses associated with Gallaghers Place who not only contributed ideas, but also permitted the artwork to be applied to their walls and even extended the project by committing further funds. The project developed in such an organic way, with the artists gathering input from all stakeholders. The result is a mural where everyone can feel they made their special mark. It is now an integral part of a unique Melbourne Laneway that our residents call home.
TASMANIA CATEGORY: Leading Community Engagement Practice AWARDED FOR : Resident Community Fund Grant Program In Tasmania, Housing Choices was recognised for its Resident Community Fund Grant Program , which invests $100,000 each year to enable residents, with assistance from Housing Choices and other stakeholders, to enhance their opportunities for engagement and skills development within their local communities. This year the grant program helped fund 16 community initiatives, which were all developed by residents and the support partner agencies that bring either in-kind or other funding sources to the projects. The projects are very much community-led and provide opportunities for residents to participate actively in their implementation. Successful projects to date include: • Food sustainability project - Sue’s Food Shed at East Devonport Community House • East Devonport Community Garden • Canning Drive bootcamp for children of residents in East Devonport • Large mural project with residents in the Shorewell Park Community • Mural project with residents at the Ulverstone Neighbourhood House An exciting added benefit of the grant program was the establishment of the Your Future Scholarships Program , which provides assistance for children of residents to further their education.
Growing Our Impact - Annual Report 2016-17 40.
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