Project New Dawn
True to its tagline, “More than just a bed,” Project New Dawn takes a holistic approach to supporting homeless people in Melbourne get back on their feet.
Through partnering with employers, homelessness organisations and housing providers in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, Project New Dawn runs programs to help those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless to find stable housing and ongoing support. Program participants are given secure housing, a caseworker to provide ongoing physical, social and emotional support, and assistance to gain ongoing and stable employment.
2019 Pitch
Funds raised: $45,650
Too often we associate mental health and drug and alcohol addiction with homelessness. Wayne from Project New Dawn spoke about how this distracts from the ‘invisible homeless’ - people who are couch surfing and at risk of sleeping on the streets. Wayne was pitching for funding to hire the staff necessary to engage and support these people.
The impact…
For every person you can see sleeping rough on the streets, there are many more sleeping in cars, on people’s couches and out of sight. They are trying desperately to land on the street where getting back on your feet becomes even harder. This is where Project New Dawn steps in, they provide connections to large employment partners in Australia to provide a job and a sense of purpose to people doing it tough.
At the time of pitching they already had a partner in Bunnings, and are currently looking at entering into new relationships with more prospective employment partners. The funds raised went to the hiring of a Project Development Officer to oversee this expanding employment pathway program, managing relationships with the employment partners and coordinating the various stakeholders.
Read their Impact Report