Through the Resident Community Fund, Housing Choices Tasmania has been able to help support the Doors to Mentors initiative, along with Apex Ulverstone, the Rotary Club of Ulverstone West, the Central Coast Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and other partner organisations. Hosted by Beacon Foundation, Collective ed. is a $15 million, five-year project funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation, Australia’s largest philanthropic organisation and the Tasmanian State Government. The Collective ed. Central Coast Team help facilitate the Doors to Mentors initiative. Doors to Mentors is a community-driven mentoring program which matches young people aged 15-24 years in the Central Coast, with mentors who support young people to achieve their future aspirations. As part of the Central Coast 100 Day challenge held in 2019, 106 mentors were identified. Collective ed. Central Coast is one of six sites and part of the first Collective Impact initiative hosted by Beacon Foundation. Through Collective ed., Beacon is supporting six communities. The aim is to ensure more young people complete Year 12 or equivalent and enable them to transition into meaningful pathways after school.
Pictured: Housing Choices Tasmania's residents at Neighbour Day
Over 115 Housing Choices residents, families and friends came together to celebrate Neighbour Day with a wonderful, warming winter community meal held at Latrobe Bowls Club. The event was largely organised by the Latrobe Resident Group, with everyone who attended donating winter clothing items to support communities in need. It was wonderful to be joined by Relationships Australia, Anglicare and Libraries Tasmania on the day. The Trifles, who provide free musical entertainment to the local community, was enjoyed by all, along with balloon art and the delicious meal organised by Latrobe Bowls Club. Every year, residents are invited to enter their gardens into the Spring Garden Competition. Residents are encouraged to find innovative ways ‘up-cycle’ items for their garden, and to get creative with their outdoor spaces. This year there were 24 entries, with the final ten winners receiving $100 Bunnings vouchers. All of the gardens were inspirational and unique in the ways they approached sustainability.
Since 2016, Housing Choices Tasmania has awarded 53 Your Future Scholarships to our residents in Tasmania. In the last few months, despite the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, we have been able to award thirteen scholarships and exceeded our target for this year. Nancy, our Housing O cer in the south, was able to award four scholarships to residents in the Hobart area including some residents who have come from parts of the world as refugees. One resident said, “my goal is to speak and understand English so I can work. Having a laptop would facilitate my English studies as now I study through my mobile phone, it is di cult with COVID-19, we cannot attend school and study face to face”.
Pictured (R) Fithawit and Feruz receiving their scholarship laptops
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Housing Choices Australia | Annual Report 2019-20
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