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Have you ever thought about becoming a Burdekin Foster Carer?

Have you ever thought about becoming a foster carer?

Being a Carer with The Burdekin Association is different from the traditional foster care programs.

We are a community-based non-profit organisation with lots of different housing options, including a rent-free home for you and the child, generous carer allowance, ongoing training and continued support. Singles, couples and families are ALL welcome!  

Are you ready?

Do you want to take the next step and make a difference to a child’s life?  For more information, call Kerrie on 02 8976 1777 or email carer@burdekin.org.au.

Check out what Burdekin Foster Carers and young people in care have to say.

Have a listen to what Beth and Ange have to say about being Foster Carers with Burdekin. Beth and Ange.

Have a listen to what a difference having a caring home made to CJ. CJ

Have a listen to what being Foster Carers has meant to Jill and Tom. Jill and Tom.

Please visit our Carer pages to find out more – Becoming a Foster Carer and Live-in Foster Carer FAQ’s.

Have you ever considered becoming a foster carer?

Lisa* is a kind, thoughtful 11-year-old girl with loads of energy, looking for a loving home in the Inner West of Sydney. Lisa loves gymnastics, dancing and has recently shown a lot of interest in AFL. Lisa will be making the transition to high school next year and may need help getting to and from her new school. Lisa loves school but sometimes needs some support with her homework. She loves structure and routine and goes to bed at the same time every night.  Lisa is an amazing chef – her favourite things to make are smoothies and cupcakes.
*Image and name has been changed to protect child’s identity.

Foster carers needed Inner West, Northern Sydney, Eastern Suburbs and South East Sydney - can you help?

Ricky* is a caring, funny, smart 12-year-old boy who is full of energy and is hoping for a warm and loving home in the Inner West of Sydney. Ricky* absolutely loves NRL and has recently taken a huge interest in his fitness – going to the local park for running and circuit training. He has recently learnt to follow recipes and cooks up a storm. Ricky* takes so much pride in his bedroom. Ricky* enjoys school and sometimes will need some support with his assignments. Ricky* responds positively to a structured but fun environment.
*Image and name have been changed to protect child’s identity.

Please call us if you think you can offer a home to a young person

Keeping siblings together in foster care is vital to keep their close bond and connection rather than being split up. Burdekin currently have young teenage siblings who urgently need carers available to offer them a safe and nurturing home. 

Learn more about being a foster carer, hear real stories about what it is like to be a foster carer with us

At The Burdekin Association we know many teenagers are in need of a safe, secure, nurturing home and that many people won’t consider fostering teenagers because of negative misconceptions about them.  

Fostering a teenager provides young people with a consistent, nurturing, adult role model at a vital time in their life, allowing them to build up necessary steps to independence.

You do not need to have had your own teenagers or have had experience with teenagers. What you do need to have is an open heart to support young people who need to be loved and protected.

We are looking for individuals from all sorts of backgrounds and experiences, who are single or in a relationship – all are welcome and encouraged to become foster carers.

Don’t forget, if you would like more information please give Kerrie on 02 8976 1777 a call, email carer@burdekin.org.au or visit our website to find out more – Becoming a Foster Carer and Live-in Foster Carer FAQ’s.

Charitable community days and in-kind giving

Working Bees at our Inner West and Northern Beaches Properties

Giving comes in all shapes and forms. We want to highlight some of the contributions our amazing community of supporters have generously provided to us as in-kind giving, in other words donating time and goods.

What are in-kind donations?

In-kind donations may be physical stuff like furniture, clothes, necessities (food, toiletries), school supplies, equipment and the like or consist of donations in the form of professional expertise, skills and services such as legal services or property refurbishment, facility management and the like.

Community working bees make a big, practical difference to our work and to our young people – we have some amazing – we mean AMAZING – partners and organisations helping out.

The Property Industry Foundation (PIF) connects us with other organisations all the time to help alleviate child and youth homelessness. These organisations are across a variety of industries providing numerous services and products that will help services like ours to keep youth safe and secure.

Stanmore property working bee with Charterhall and Flick Macqueen Plant Designs

Staff from Charterhall and plants and pots from Flick Macqueen Plant Design helped us with a garden design at one of our Stanmore properties. Charterhall’s website says: “Our team are encouraged to give 1% of their time to support community projects.”

What an amazing ethos and the team did an incredible job. Take a look at some of the before, during and after photos below.

King Living

King Living have been donating the most beautiful lounges from one of their stunning ranges to one of our Stanmore properties. These pieces have gone into new homes for our young people and look amazing.

“We received the beautiful couch and dining table set on Monday which was assembled by two really lovely men. The Burdekin Association is truly grateful for the ongoing support both organisations provide. The houses we find automatically feel like homes with the quality of these items.” Matt, The Burdekin Association.

Bunnings

Ensuring fire safety in our properties is a priority for us and we must say a huge thank you to Bunnings Warringah Mall, who have donated fire safety products such as fire extinguishers, fire blankets, first aid kits and other fire safety accessories to reduce the risk of fire and keep our young people safe both in the Inner West and Northern Beaches.

We can’t thank these wonderful people enough, their commitment to helping us and the phenomenal work they have done not to mention the gorgeous furniture and plants.

BINGO Bins

The people over at BINGO Industries have been a huge support to The Burdekin Association by providing about  $10,000 – $15,000 worth of bins over the last year. The bins are being used to clean up properties….such wonderful support that we are really appreciative of.

We are always saying this but … it really does take a village and we are so lucky to have found ours! Thank you everyone for your precious time and donations.

If you would like to partner with us in any way and help us to solve youth homelessness please get in touch!

Charterhall – LinkedIn, Twitter and Youtube

King Living – Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest

Bunnings – Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube

Flick McQueen Design – Facebook and Instagram

BINGO Industries – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter

Bunnings and Taubmans Paints

Recently the wonderful people at Bunnings Warringah Mall and Taubmans Paints helped us with a very special project – The Burdekin Learning Space. We are thrilled to say that, at a property in North Head, we now have a classroom, therapy room and sensory room. Our young people are going to benefit so so much from this space where specialist education workers will provide trauma informed education. None of this would be possible without the kindness and generosity of community! Read more about our Learning Space and Education Specialists fundraising page here.

TaubmansFacebook and Instagram

The Easter Bunny visited Burdekin

Community support for Burdekin

Where would we be without our supportive community sometimes appearing in the form of the Easter Bunny dropping off bags full of easter eggs.

Our young people were thrilled to bits and we were over the moon by the generosity of Zac Marsh and family of Watts Electrical. Thank you for digging deep and donating all these wonderful Easter goodies. It doesn’t get much better than this!

Community support for BA at Easter

It is the kindness of community, families, businesses and individuals that make the lives of children and young people who have not had the best start in life a little bit better.

We thank Zac and his family, especially these two gorgeous girls for their beautiful gesture.

We acknowledge the Aboriginal people of the Cadigal and Gayamaygal Clans. We acknowledge the Country on which we live, work, and gather as being Aboriginal land.

We acknowledge the lands, waterways and skies that are connected to Aboriginal people. We honour them and pay our deepest respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

We respect their rightful place within our communities, and we value their ancient cultural knowledge and practices.

Aboriginal Flag
Torres Straight Island Flag

We deeply respect that this will always be Aboriginal land and we will honour and follow the first peoples’ values in caring for the Country and for preserving their culture.

We deeply value that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest living culture in the world and we will continue to work with their peoples and communities to ensure their cultures endure and remain strong.