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What a difference volunteers make!

Qualtrics volunteers assist to transform a property for a young person.

A huge thank you to the amazing team of volunteers at Qualtrics for helping us transform a single storey, two-bedroom property for a 19-year-old single mother with two children under the age of two.

Six employees from Qualtrics, which helps organisations improve their customer and employee experience, put up their hands to transform the property as part of their annual volunteering inititiative, XM Day.

Armed with gardening tools and a positive attitude, they participated in a volunteering day, where they assisted in:

  • Painting the living room
  • Moving a new couch into the newly painted living room
  • Pruning and tidying up the garden
  • Patching up a couple of dents in the walls
  • Revamping the kitchen
  • Tidying up the garage and car port
  • Taking rubbish to Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre
  • Scrubbing the bathroom to remove mould
  • Removing plastic bottles and recycling them

The generous team also donated two car seats for the children, children’s clothes, toys, new towels, new cushions and a rug, and stationery to help the young mother with their TAFE studies.

Doctor Cecila Herbert from Qualtrics also went the extra mile and donated plants from her own garden and planted them in the property’s garden.

Thank you Qualtrics, your team of volunteers have truly made a difference in this young mother’s life and we couldn’t be more grateful! This is why we do what we do!

And finally, a big shout out of thanks to Bunnings Warringah Mall for donating paint, that provided the living room with a new lease on life.

If your organisation or business would like to volunteer with The Burdekin Association, check out our volunteering opportunities here. We’d love to hear from you.

Manly residence refurbished and reinvigorated!

We have some exciting news! Our residence in Manly was recently refurbished to welcome three new young people, after five months of hard work on the property. 

In collaboration with three volunteers from ReLove and four volunteers from Stockland volunteering on their Social Responsibility Day, we were able to furnish the rooms and the living spaces of the property. One of the volunteers fortuitously was an Interior Designer who was able to help with determining the layout of the rooms.

ReLove rescues furniture and whitegoods from their corporate partners and community and delivers it directly to people who need a helping hand. They transported the furniture to our property, and supported us with assembling/organising the furniture.

Stockland is a community partner of The Burdekin Association and four of their employees assisted with the refurbishment of the premises. It was an incredibly uplifting experience where collaboration, positivity and interagency support were demonstrated in full! They helped make the process an effective and a positive one for all involved.

There are now three young people living in the property and enjoying the premises. Each of them were empowered to become directly involved, choosing their own furniture for their bedrooms from ReLove and furnishing the property. 

Best of all, each of the young people received a ‘welcome booklet’ to welcome them to their new home, and were encouraged to organise how they wanted to live in the property. 

One of the young people came with their grandmother to share dinner at the premises, see the property and become familiar with it, setting down roots. 

Staff from Stockland and ReLove assisted with the renovation and refurbishment of the property in Manly.
Many helpers make light work!
The bedroom makeover, with new furniture.
The living room with new furniture and soft furnishings.
The kitchen, featuring new furniture.

Confront the Crisis – Housing for all

We recently attended the Confront the Crisis – Housing for All summit on ending homelessness and confronting the housing crisis in NSW.

Confront the Crisis

Confront the Crisis is a campaign by Community Housing Industry Association NSW which calls on each and every MP, each and every party in NSW to confront the housing crisis by committing to real, long-term investment in community housing ahead of the state election this March.

Housing for All Summit

Housing for All – NSW Pre- Election Town Hall event, was organised by Homelessness NSW and The Community Housing Industry Association NSW.

The event, taking place during the NSW state election campaign, was a chance for our political leaders, the sector, and the community to take another step towards a future NSW where everyone in NSW has a safe place to call home.

Hosted by journalist Joe Hildebrand, speakers included:

  • Mark Degotardi, Community Housing Industry Association NSW
  • Trina Jones, Homelessness NSW
  • Hal Pawson, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW
  • Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore
  • The Hon Rose Jackson, NSW Labor
  • Jenny Leong, MP NSW Greens
  • Alex Greenwich, MP Independent
  • Adina Cirson, The Property Council
Housing for All summit host Joe Hildebrand

Jenny Leong MP, Alex Greenwich MP and Rose Jackson MP discussing the NSW housing and homelessness crisis and the strategic and collaborative approach needed to solve the problem.

via @CHIA_NSW twitter

Key workers are struggling to find a place to live. Young people are losing hope. “The market will not fix itself. We need government intervention to provide essential affordable housing stock.” – The Hon. Rose Jackson, NSW Shadow Minister for Water, Housing and Homelessness.

via @CHIA_NSW twitter

“At the current rate of investment in NSW, it would take around 80 years to build enough social and affordable housing for the households currently on the NSW social housing waitlist.” – Trina Jones from @HomelessnessNSW

via @CHIA_NSW twitter

UNSW’s Hal Pawson talking about how NSW net supply of social housing is falling while demand is rising. Census data shows 144,000 households would be eligible for social housing – far more than the official NSW social housing waitlist shows.

via @CHIA_NSW twitter

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and CHIA NSW and @HomelessnessNSW Housing for All event calling for sustained government investment in social and affordable housing.

via @CHIA_NSW twitter

“We have an opportunity to maximise the investment from the Housing Australia Future Fund.” 8,000 people joined the NSW social housing waitlist last year. CHIA NSW’s @MarkDegotardi says now is the time for action.

Next steps

Sign the petition and further resources.

Ending Homelessness Together campaign.

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.