Project 4 Change
Great Aussie Charities You’ve Never Heard Of…
This month we heard from a Project that’s helping people, young and old, by tackling the housing affordability crisis head on with people power!
What’s the Project 4 Change mission?
Our mission is to contribute to the change needed to resolve Australia’s affordable housing crisis. We are doing this by engaging with the problem using the principles of business accountability, rather than public sector grant dependency. We develop affordable residential property which we sell or rent with all profits being deployed in future projects.
Why is this a problem?
There are several groups or demographics of people in our society that have great difficulty in finding and affording safe and suitable homes.
The main groups are:
Those who are Homeless
Those leaving domestic violence situations
Older single women
Those with varying degrees of mental or physical ability
Low income earners including service workers
Young people
These groups are very much interconnected, in that someone leaving domestic violence could be an older single woman or could be a single parent on low income, and either could be homeless or at risk of homelessness. They could have some form of disability which often dictates that they be low income earners also. There are many combinations of challenges faced by many people.
Currently housing options are limited for people in these situations. Rental properties fall into two categories. Private rental properties, either handled by the owner or by a real estate manager, and community or social housing options, handled by government agencies, including charity-based community housing organizations.
The Private rentals market is expensive, leaving many who take this option in housing stress, even if they can qualify as a tenant. Social housing is difficult to impossible to access, with waiting lists in each state of up to 20,000
people, and up to 10 years wait time unless the client is deemed to be in a crisis situation. See an extract of the research report completed by AHURI throughout 2017/18 below:
The Major Crisis facing may Australians (extract AHURI Report 2018,
Understanding opportunities for social impact investment in the development of affordable housing, Inquiry into social impact investment for housing and
homelessness outcome) Housing affordability and housing stress are major issues in Australia.
Home ownership is declining, particularly among younger households, resulting in a third of households residing in the private rental sector. A third of these are long term tenants (defined as 10 years or more) (Stone, Burke et al. 2013).
In 2011: There was a supply shortage of 187,000 dwellings nationally for households with weekly household income in the lowest equivalized income quintile, and when availability was considered the shortage increased to 271,000. 78 per cent of these tenants were in housing stress, that is paying more than 30 per cent of their income in rent
(Hulse, Reynolds et al. 2015).
There is now an option for the many people who leave domestic violence situations who are faced with attempting to gain a place in a refuge, sleeping on couches and floors with family or friends, using their car as their sleeping space, living in shared accommodation or hostels, living on the street or returning to the abuser, to gain their own affordable accommodation more quickly and easily. This in turn will free up resources to assist those in high risk crisis situations.
Where did it all begin?
Project 4 Change was born of the Brisbane floods of 2011. Our chair, Greg Cree, organized an emergency essential items warehousing operation to supply those affected by the floods with everyday items. He instigated this crucial service at Ballymore, Brisbane, through the Golden Oldies Rugby network.
This operation collected goods and distributed them to crisis centres at Yeronga and Goodna in the southern regions of Brisbane. This was an all-volunteer operation which generally involved about 20 people daily for a period of 10 weeks after the floods.
People came in from the street to help using their own vehicles to deliver the goods once they were categorized and sorted. Greg and his partner Leanne Paulsen (a director of P4C) had been to deliver food to help provide meals for some 60 people at Yeronga one weekend morning when, on their way back
home, they passed crowds of people heading to a one-day cricket test nearby at the Gabba ground.
This scenario of two very different experiences happening at the same time, so geographically close together, but so profoundly opposite in their effects, had a catalytic effect on Greg. He began to research how his skill base from many years in construction, property development and project finance could be used to make a difference to those in need. Out of this research several models emerged. The result is Project 4 Change as it exists today. However, this is a journey and we will keep evolving to best deliver what is needed within our community.
A day in the life of Project 4 Change:
There really is no typical day in the life of Project 4 Change. Our work is innovative and ground-breaking as well as disruptive in the community sector and in the space of affordable housing, so we often face challenges that no other charity has had to face previously.
We begin the day with our meeting to discuss progress on the project, follow up on any previous meetings and tasks, planning for upcoming events and connections, and a morning cuppa.
Our Founder and Chair, Greg Cree, is very active and well connected in our local and national business community, so it’s quite normal for him to be racing on to the next inspiring gathering, speaking at events, collaborating and coming up with innovative strategies to do the work he is so passionate about. Greg’s passion for helping people and his many years expert experience place him in a unique light. A big hearted and generous Property Developer.
Yes, there IS such a thing!
Impact Story:
Frank and Lily (names altered for privacy) are a hardworking and loving Fijian couple who have migrated to begin a new life in Australia. This came as result of Lily having to leave her job as a journalist in Fiji during the dictatorship. She was forced to flee the country leaving her son behind. Lily fought to be reunited with her son and is now an Australian citizen.
Frank and Lily believed that they would never be able to afford to buy their own home despite both working. This is what they had come to understand from listening to the daily mainstream media, the communities sector and society in general, all repeatedly stating that people such as themselves would never be able to own their home.
They had been put into the box of low income earning migrants with few prospects above basic economic survival, and they accepted this to be true, because, let’s face it, this is what they see and experience around them every day.
The couple, being faced with the inevitability of their situation, and giving up their dream to buy their special place on the planet, decided to give themselves a sense of accomplishment and purchased a brand-new car via personal finance. They had given up hope on ever being home owners
We met Frank and Lily through their inquiries to one of our trusted providers. With all parties working together and applying our innovative strategies, and utilization of the first home owners grant, we established, they could indeed reach their dream of buying their new home.
The couple were ecstatic at having this opportunity for themselves and their family, to feel safe and secure that their home is theirs and can’t be taken from them, as would be a possibility with a private rental home. They can now be long term members of a community, have an asset and a legacy for their family and be proud to be part of the Australian way of life.
What do you do with your donations?
There are several ways for you to be a part of the solution:
We have investment opportunities with Investments going into our impact investment fund, which offers a return. It is unique for a charity to be able to offer an investment return.
Our Product Disclosure Statement provides all the details of the offer. Please
contact us for a copy. All the funds received are used on our mission. Part of this mission is in follow up support programs for our clients, such as our rewards program, which is part of our Rental Pathways scheme. This activates when someone undertakes a self-development program or starts a regular savings plan.
The reward for participation is points (think Fly Buys) toward deposit dollars for their new home. They also get bonus points if they involve their children (over 15 yrs), which works toward breaking the cycle. We believe that, as a community, we are all responsible for our community to thrive, and to take care of those less fortunate until they can either recover and become self-sustaining or be supported to have quality of life where full recovery is not possible.
This concept is best expressed in the quote “Takes a village to raise a child”. We have 24 million people in our community of Australia and if we all do a little bit we will succeed. This is particularly important as the governments of all levels cannot and won’t accomplish this task.
Are you Tax Deductible?
Yes. We gratefully accept donations which go directly into our fund. We provide a tax-deductible receipt for contributions over $10.00
Check out the P4C website:
www.project4change.org.au
Or follow them on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/project4changeofficial/
