Foundation grants additional half a million dollars to combat COVID‑19

These newly unemployed Victorians now face the prospect of becoming homeless, however, most have a high level of digital and web experience and are looking online for support and assistance.

Justice Connect is a leading community legal centre that specialises in a variety of legal areas, including Homeless Law, a program which provides online resources and tools to help people find information and advice to remain housed.

Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation has provided a grant to Justice Connect that will enable them to increase their capacity to provide a series of tailored legal information and advice for their online self-help hub that will directly respond to issues as a result of external factors caused by COVID‑19.

The self-help hub specifically aims to keep those who have recently been made unemployed remain housed by providing up-to-date information on tenancy. The project will also provide other related legal information such as employment law, social security law and domestic violence. It will also translate COVID‑19 related government policy and assistance into plain, easy to understand language.

justiceconnect.org.au

Infoxchange is social enterprise that supports Australia’s social justice sector by providing online technology services. Infoxchange launched ‘Ask Izzy’ as a website resource for people seeking information and assistance from not-for-profit organisations.

A grant from Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation will enable Infoxchange to increase their capacity for Ask Izzy to provide timely, accurate and location-specific information to help people in urgent need connect to critical housing, legal, family violence support and emergency relief specific to the COVID‑19 pandemic. Ask Izzy is also the only website listing all coronavirus clinic locations.

In the last month individual searches on Ask Izzy increased from 10,000 to 30,000 per month, highlighting the critical need to help those newly vulnerable.

Recognising the wave of people soon to find themselves facing homelessness due to recent unemployment, Infoxchange will improve search results by providing critical guidance not only about where to find help, but how to approach that help, and other helpful considerations.

Ask Izzy will work with Justice Connect and other expert agencies collaboratively to provide this information and prevent people from entering a cycle of poverty.

askizzy.org.au

Gather My Crew is an online tool that enables people facing challenging times or a crisis to reach out to their family and friend networks and develop a schedule of care and support.

Since the bushfires and now COVID‑19, Gather My Crew has been working with emergency response organisations and community sector partners to create tailored technology solutions that activate and coordinate online ‘support crews’ around vulnerable and isolated Victorians during this challenging time.

A grant from Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation will support three new initiatives to create communities of care for the most vulnerable people in our local areas as well as to support the dedicated healthcare professionals who are working through the pandemic.

Three types of crews are being developed: Street Crews for local neighbourhoods to help one another, Volunteer Crews in local government areas to support the most vulnerable and isolated people within communities, and Kindness Crews to support healthcare professionals who are working to support Australia during the COVID‑19 crisis.

gathermycrew.org.au

For the past three years, the formerly derelict Collingwood Technical College site has been redeveloped into the Collingwood Arts Precinct, now known as Collingwood Yards. This important cultural asset, which supports Melbourne’s inner-north arts community, is Australia’s first contemporary arts precinct.

Due to the government restrictions and requirements to flatten the COVID‑19 curve, Contemporary Arts Precincts' newly opened Collingwood Yards is now unable to become fully operational and open to the public.

Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, along with other philanthropic organisations, are providing grants to CAP’s emergency fund that will support arts organisations, Indigenous organisations, community not-for-profits and social enterprises with rent relief so that they are able to remain operational and maintain paid staff during the pandemic.

collingwoodyards.org

STREAT’s response to COVID‑19 has been to bring food social enterprises together to create Moving Feast with the aim of providing wholesome nutritious food to vulnerable communities across Melbourne.

This collective of social enterprises already have in place chefs in kitchens, delivery drivers, and staff at a distribution centre and depot packing and delivering food.

Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation has funded social enterprises since 2009 and has provided grants to many of the social enterprises in the Moving Feast collective.

The Foundation’s grant to STREAT will support and enable Moving Feast to provide food for vulnerable communities and assist in creating and maintain employment within the social enterprise sector during the pandemic.

streat.com.au

COVID‑19 is having a major impact on the availability of everyday grocery store items and as a consequence, Foodbank Victoria’s supply chain of donated food goods is becoming thinner each day.

As stock levels have become alarmingly low, Foodbank has been faced with the prospect of having to buy food items and goods to meet the unprecedented demand. Foodbank has found itself in the unusual situation of competing with supermarkets to access produce, especially fresh and chilled items for people in need in Melbourne.

To assist in meeting this urgent need, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation provided a $15,000 grant to help Foodbank increase their stock levels with these critical goods so Foodbank can continue distributing much needed food and goods to the most vulnerable people in our community.

foodbank.org.au