Acknowledgement of country
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live and work. As we create safe and welcoming homes, we honour the people of the Kulin nation and their enduring connection to their home we call Naarm, Melbourne.
We pay our respects to all First Nations Elders, past and present. And we urge all Australians to embrace the Uluru statement from the heart and what it asks of us.
Inclusivity at Launch Housing
We are proud to be an inclusive organisation and support all efforts to build a more equal world, where individuals can live and work free from discrimination.
Welcome
Hello and welcome to this year’s Impact Report. I’m thrilled you are here to discover the tangible impact that we are making in ending homelessness in Melbourne.
In this report, we’re focused on two key themes, families and new beginnings, and the connection between housing and physical and mental wellbeing. We know that poverty and family violence drive homelessness and that housing is healthcare.
This year Launch Housing has been able to help over 15,000 people and are seeing some really tangible outcomes. We are well positioned to see how, in collaboration with our partners and the broader community, we can scale up the programs that have the greatest impact, understand where we need to create more interventions and integrate our learnings on how to best support people.
None of the achievements you’ll read about in this report would be possible without our partners, supporters, staff, and the voices of lived experience.
2021–2022
Our year at a glance
Launch Housing Theory of Change
OUR APPROACH CREATES CHANGE
At Launch Housing, our Theory of Change helps us to pursue our vision of zero homelessness in Melbourne by focusing on changes for people, communities and society. Using our Theory of Change as the basis for our impact measures help us understand what is happening right now, what we can do about it, and the solutions we can achieve together.
This year, our report has two themes; Families and New Beginnings, and Health and Wellbeing. The issue of homelessness connects with many other social issues and impacts. We’ve focused on these key themes as they are integral to helping us end homelessness. Learn more in the sections to the right.
This report measures the impact of our work from this year, FY21-22 and compares our outcomes to those of the previous year, FY20-21. You can read the outcomes of the previous year in our Impact Report 2021.
The evidence in this second Impact Report shows our services are on track to help end homelessness. This is our second Impact Report and, while not long enough to define long-term trends, monitoring our Impact Measures gives us an early indication of what is working, enables us to track short-term change and act on learnings to provide a more client-focused response. We continue to scale up the solutions we know work and continue to grow our impact.
Focus areas
Impact measures
Our Impact Measures help us to bring our Theory of Change to life by defining measures of success.
We use these 10 Impact Measures to evaluate our performance and improve our services as we support people in their journey out of homelessness and into a better future.
Safe and secure housing
We collaborate with the broader Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) system in Victoria to provide clients access to stable, secure and suitable housing. We work hard to help clients find housing, support them to maintain their tenancies and are building new social housing to boost housing supply.
1
Increase in number of high acuity clients with secure housing
The journey out of homelessness is not always linear. Many of our clients require multiple engagements with Launch Housing services before they find their permanent home. We continue to support our clients throughout their journey and build trusting relationships to help them progress on their path out of homelessness.
2
Exits into housing exceed number of people sleeping rough
Nobody experiencing homelessness should have to sleep rough. The longer someone experiences rough sleeping, the more challenges they have to manage, and the harder it is for them to find and keep appropriate housing. Our client-centred programs like Functional Zero and Homelessness to a Home are working with people with a long history of rough sleeping to find good housing outcomes for them that are connected to ongoing support.
3
Increase in clients who have a positive transition into secure housing
We know that housing first works. When people have housing combined with the appropriate support, additional trauma is limited, and they have the best chance to recover, rebuild and break the intergenerational cycle of homelessness.
4
Increase in proportion of clients, who received rent or bond payments, with sustained housing
With rising rental prices across Melbourne and Australia, many affordable suburbs have become inaccessible to many people. Our Private Rental Assistance Program (PRAP) provides people financial assistance to secure a new rental property. It also helps people hold on to their existing housing until they can find their feet.
5
Increase in the number of social housing dwellings owned or managed by Launch Housing
The supply of social housing in Victoria has not kept pace with population increases and demand. The private rental market is expensive, volatile, and often not suited to people with complex needs.
By owning and managing housing ourselves we can be more flexible and supportive in helping people keep and maintain their tenancies. This provides people with certainty, security, and the chance to re-build their lives.
6
Increase in the number of properties managed by HomeGround Real Estate (HGRE)
HomeGround Real Estate is Victoria’s first social enterprise real estate agency which provides a way for socially conscious property owners to give back to the community and generate funds for homelessness services provided by Launch Housing.
All profits from HomeGround Real Estate (HGRE) are used to help end homelessness.
Early interventions
We help to break the cycle of disadvantage and homelessness for children and young people through interventions that have immediate impacts to create positive intergenerational change.
7
Increase in number of young people employed or enrolled in education after completing the Education First Youth Foyer
There is significant wage gap and employment rate between someone who drops out of school in year 10 versus year 12.
Our Education First Youth Foyer (EFYF) program is a targeted approach supporting young people to stay out of homelessness and provide them with training that builds foundational life skills for their future.
8
Increase in number of children participating in school or early childhood education
When children grow up in disadvantaged households, they are more likely to experience poverty and homelessness as adults.
At Launch Housing, we know that interventions that have immediate impacts on households are also likely to break the cycle of homelessness and disadvantage.
Scaling change
To create lasting and sustainable change, we work with communities, partners and the broader system to shift attitudes around homelessness and mobilise the sector for collective impact.
9
10
Increase in acts of community engagement to end homelessness
Increase in partner support
Everyone has a role to end homelessness.
Central to our Theory of Change is engaging the community to call for the end of homelessness. As long as people expect that there will always be homelessness, it’s hard to create sustainable change.
That is why we are increasing empathy in the community and empowering our partners to make lasting change.
THANK YOU!
Everyone has a right to a home and it’s our job to make that happen.
However, we can’t achieve this alone.
The outcomes we’ve achieved in this impact report are only possible through our strong partnerships with government, community organisations, philanthropy, business, supporters and our clients.
We want to thank our partners, funders and supporters who share our purpose to end homelessness. Together, our work at scale can make Melbourne a livable city for all.
Your generosity, commitment, and shared belief that things can be better for people experiencing homelessness means that we can work with individuals to help them change their lives. It also means that we can pilot programs and demonstrate pathways to evidence-based solutions that lead to long-term change for everyone.
Launch Housing would like to acknowledge the significant funding and support we received from the Victorian Government over the 2021-22 financial year.
As well as those organisations listed in this impact report, who make specific programs possible, Launch Housing’s impact in 2022 would not have been possible without the support of:
Brian & Virginia McNamee Foundation
Chrysanthemum Foundation
Danny Wallis Philanthropic Foundation
Donald Fraser Family Fund, a giving fund of the APS Foundation
Estate of Doreen Margaret Turner
Estate of Jeanette and John Chester
Estate of the late Ernest Lonsdale Brown
Fade to Black Foundation
Fred J Cato Charitable Fund
Gill Family Foundation
Goldsmith Family Foundation
Gray Family Charitable Trust
Juno Fund, Kapscalu Rejenerative Fund, Meta Lazarus Fund, Peel Fund, RO Fund and Williams Fund, sub-funds of Australian Communities Foundation
Jack and Ethel Goldin Foundation
Jack and Hedy Brent Foundation
Junola Foundation
Miss M K A Bell Memorial Fund
Oliver-Affleck Fund
Percy Baxter Charitable Trust
Perpetual Foundation – The Hutchins Family Endowment
Perpetual Foundation – The White Family Endowment
Robin and Mary Lou Friday & the Friday-Ferrell-Hudson-Maher Family
Ross Trust
Shine On Foundation
Sunrise Foundation
The Arthur Gordon Oldham Charitable Trust, managed by Equity Trustees
The Blueshore Charitable Trust
The Bowden Marstan Foundation
The Flora & Frank Leith Charitable Trust
The Gething-Sambrook Family Foundation
The Hutchins Family Endowment
The John Robertson Grigor & Mrs Eva McKenzie Bequest Account Discretionary Trust
The Marian and E.H. Flack Trust
The Orloff Family Charitable Trust
The Peter and Ann Robinson Foundation
The Pierce Armstrong Foundation
The White Family Endowment
The William Angliss Charitable Fund
William Angliss Charitable Fund
Zig Inge Foundation
We gratefully received gifts from:
The Estate of Jeanette and John Chester, The Estate of Doreen Margaret Turner, and generous individuals, families and foundations who would prefer to remain anonymous .