Charities for Christmas donations - Australia

[chocolate-chip chooky]

I came across this fabulous charity: http://www.projectnightnight.org/

It was promoted by The Blogess.

 

I'm wondering if anyone knows of anything similar in Australia?

 

There's something about those bags that I especially love. I'd love to find something like that to support locally.

 

Thanks :)

Edited December 9, 2017 by chocolate-chip chooky

[abba12]

I think the fact is we just don't have that kind of issue with homeless families and children on the streets in Australia so we don't have or need anything comparable. There are some, of course, there's always some, but nothing like in the US thanks to our social security net. In Australia a family with children is never going to be in a position of being unable to eat thanks to the Family Tax Benefit, and far less restrictive unemployment benefits, and they are priority #1 for government funded housing and emergency housing through the government. A family (i.e. with kids, who get extra payments for them) who can't use the safety net to stay fed and off the street is likely going to be picked up by child services for other issues like drugs pretty quickly. There are very few reasons for a family with children to endure true homelessness in Australia, except possibly a single parent with one child who might slip through the cracks if they don't know how to access the various help and charities available to them. There was a spat of them during the GFC, but many were camping in tents with their stuff in storage while they waited to try find a new house after their current one was foreclosed, often after the father was laid off. These weren't people in poverty, just people who couldn't afford their mortgages, were between jobs, and hadn't worked out the next step yet. You might say these kids could benefit from such a charity because it is still a traumatic event, yes, but most of these kids from what stories I saw had all the 'stuff' they needed from their home. even their tents and sleeping bags were better quality than the ones my working-class family owns since they were from middle-class families. The parental stress was the primary trauma, and that would occur whether in a house or not. 

 

There are families and children listed in the homeless statistics but you do have to remember that a. 'children' in those statistics are referring to under 18s I believe, so all the teenage runaways are in there, and there IS a lot of those, no doubt, I suspect we might have a bigger issue with homeless teens than America, but most of ours crash with friends or houseshare or do other things for a roof. Our safety net sucks for people on their own and really sucks for under 21s. and b. our homeless statistics include people temporarily living with family, or a non-stationary caravan, or camping out in-between homes, and a number of other situations that are much less dire than people expect. I believe technically my brother and his girlfriend who are living with us are part of the homeless statistic because they aren't on the lease, nor are they dependants, they are considered 'couch surfing' which is included in homelessness.

 

I've seen a number of times now people in Australia asking how to help the homeless and coming up empty because they just... aren't there. The ideas of the homeless come from American media, and we certainly do have some people living on the street, mostly the very elderly, disabled, and runaway youths, but it's a completely different situation to the one in the US. I live in a low income area and I know a couple of rich people from a local housing estate decided to make a big do about taking donations for the homeless in our (fairly large and poor) town. But next thing we saw, they were asking how to FIND the homeless people to give stuff to because there were only one or two in the park and none anywhere else they could spot. They got directed to the food bank and community centre but almost everyone who goes there is working class but renting a house somewhat comfortably, or pensioners who often have a home but struggle to afford anything else, not what this group had originally wanted. I didn't hear from them again after that.

 

I will say, my family got help from the Smith Family one year and it was a huge blessing, during a very difficult year. They are connected with many of the most at-risk families through various channels, and they do great work. But even during that terrible year we managed to keep a roof over our heads very easily thanks to the social security net here. Heck, when we needed a baby capsule for our newborn that year it was just given to us (I believe that came from the benevolent society, another very good one though very closely linked in with child services...) Even now, we are single income, and things are tight by our standards, but, when I read of American parents actually skipping meals to feed their kids... that's just insanity and from what I know not the reality for anyone in Australia except those with addictions or other added issues. I grew up low income, went to a poor school then homeschooled with poor people back when it was still illegal, I still associate mostly with 'bogans' and those considered in poverty by our standards, and am there myself, but I've never known anyone to become live-on-the-streets homeless through poverty, ever. (though, I might be about to if my brother and his girlfriend don't get their butts into gear very, very soon...  :lol:)

 

It's a bad habit we have developed, of looking at the social issues of America and assuming that they are also issues here. We have poor people, and they do suffer and struggle, but our poor have very different issues to the American poor, and a very different lifestyle. And our poorest people are definitely, 100% better off than the poorest Americans. I doubt my family, with two disabled parents, only one working and that one working part time, and three kids, could ever survive in the US. But we manage to do fine, even thrive, here.

Edited December 9, 2017 by abba12

[Sandwalker]

I thought there was a big housing crisis in Australia? Not people living on the streets, but difficulty in affording to buy or even rent a place? Perhaps it is just in the area of Australia in which my friends live.

[chocolate-chip chooky]

Thanks, Abba, for your insights.

Maybe I should stick with The Smith Family then. It's good to know they really do good work.

 

I honestly don't know how our homeless or housing situation here would compare to elsewhere. I just don't have the experience or knowledge to make the comparison.

 

[Ausmumof3]

There is one locally that puts together backpacks for foster kids going into new care situations though I can't think of its name. They aren't one of the major organisation. I don't think they necessarily do all new stuff either. Excellent condition second hand stuff is used.

[chocolate-chip chooky]

There is one locally that puts together backpacks for foster kids going into new care situations though I can't think of its name. They aren't one of the major organisation. I don't think they necessarily do all new stuff either. Excellent condition second hand stuff is used.

 

I'll have a search and see what I can find. Thanks for the idea.

The Smith Family did school backpacks full of supplies one year. I'll look at that too.

 

I've heard of shoebox appeals too. Each box includes something to wear, something to love, something to eat, something to play with, something to use.

[Ausmumof3]

There is a fair amount of visible homelessness in the big cities. People sleeping in doorways of buildings. I'm also starting to see it round the shops at our local suburban area. It might not be as entrenched as the US but it's here. They open the railway stations on extreme weather days so people have somewhere warm to go. The church events that hand stuff out have people turn up.

 

However I think the less visible thing is the number of people in insecure housing. Sleeping at a friends house or in a caravan park in their car. And of course there is the drug problem which causes some of it but there's also domestic violence, mental health etc. I see regular posts on our Facebook buy swap sell of people looking for a rental pretty desperately or a room in a house.

[Ausmumof3]

I'll have a search and see what I can find. Thanks for the idea.

The Smith Family did school backpacks full of supplies one year. I'll look at that too.

 

I've heard of shoebox appeals too. Each box includes something to wear, something to love, something to eat, something to play with, something to use.

Our library does books under the tree. It could be worth asking that the library as they often seem to be a community connection and outreach place.

[abba12]

I live in QLD, that may effect my perspective. I have heard the homeless situation is more dire in Sydney and Melbourne, but even then my impression is it's mostly confined to the inner city. But perhaps there's more difference between states than I'm aware of.