In recognition of International Women’s Day, Habitat for Humanity Australia mobilised 175 corporate volunteers from different companies to renovate women’s crisis accommodation and build homes for vulnerable women in Australia.
In recognition of International Women’s Day 2020, Habitat for Humanity Australia signed up a staggering 42 teams, comprising 463 corporate volunteers from 22 companies across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, as part of our Homes of Hope Campaign! Volunteers were to be mobilised to assist women and children experiencing homelessness often due to domestic and family violence, as well as women headed households. However, due to Covid 19, many of our the volunteering activities to help renovate and make improvements to housing and shelter for women and children were postponed. The unwavering support of our Corporate Partners has seen them commit to supporting our volunteering Program once this health crisis has passed. Prior to Covid-19 restrictions being enforced, 15 teams comprising 175 corporate volunteers were mobilised.
In Australia, on average one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner. Violence against women and homelessness is a serious and widespread problem with 1 in 4 women in Australia having experienced physical and/or emotional abuse at the hands of their partner. Having a clean, safe and well maintained place to go is an important component for women leaving an abusive relationship. Existing services cannot meet the demand for crisis accommodation.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, single-female parent families make up 13% of all families (in 2016) and 80% to 82% of all single-parent families. With the stress of raising a family and earning an income falling on the shoulders of single mothers, providing a hand up on International Women’s Day can make a world of difference.
A big thank you to the following Partners who signed up to support our Homes of Hope Campaign – ANZ, Arup, Bank of America, BGIS, Bloomberg, Boral, Chamberlain Group (Merlin), CoreLogic, Downer Group, J.P. Morgan, MBA Insurance Services, Metricon, Morgans Foundation, Origin Foundation, Partridge, Salesforce, SAS International, Smartline, SMEC, Somfy, Suncorp, Teachers Mutual Bank for brightening the lives of women and children escaping violence and long term homelessness!
We would like to give a special mention to Morgans Foundation, Partridge and Smartline who donated their volunteering contribution due to the COVID-19 restrictions, and to Suncorp and CoreLogic who had signed up for a staggering 8 and 7 days of volunteering respectively!
We can book teams with 8-12 weeks’ notice and do ask for a financial contribution to support the day’s resourcing and ensure the sustainability of our programs. We invite corporates to talk to us for any further enquiries. Corporate sponsors can also support our work through financial sponsorship and donated or discounted building materials.
If you would like to learn more about corporate volunteering for your organisation, please contact our Partnerships Team on (02) 9919 7002 or [email protected].
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Together we can make the world a safer place for women.
