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 Chair’s Report

Sue Clarke was reappointed to Chair of the Board of Directors at their Annual General Meeting on 1 November 2018.

As she reflects on the year that was, Sue laments the shortfall in social and affordable housing in Victoria.

Quoting from a report on the recently commissioned research paper by Swinburne University’s Professor Terry Burke for the Community Housing Industry Association, Sue says that to maintain Victoria’s social housing supply at a mere 3.5 per cent of all housing would require an additional 30,800 dwellings by 2031 and 66,203 by 2051, which translates to more than 1,900 new dwellings each year.

She likens the challenges ahead to being at the crossroads.

“There is still much to be done… (but) We are well-positioned for the future. A future with financial sustainability, a future that builds on the models of housing and support, a future that considers the demands, and a future which we cannot do on our own.

“We need partners and partnerships… to continue to get the best outcomes for housing and support for those most vulnerable in our community.”

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Click these to see a story from our 40 Stories In 40 Weeks

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 Board 

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We are guided by a committed, independent which provides strong governance and stewardship on behalf of our broader community.

  • 1978
  • 1994
  • 1997
  • 1998
  • 2001
  • 2005
  • 2009
  • March 2011
  • August 2011
  • 2012
  • 2014
  • April 2015
  • October 2015
  • 2015
  • 2017
  • January 26 2018
  • March 2018
  • BUEAC

    Bendigo Urban Emergency Accommodation Resource Centre (BUEAC) is officially incorporated and becomes the first emergency housing program in Victoria funded by the state government.

  • Bendigo Emergency Housing

    Present CEO, Ken Marchingo takes over Bendigo Emergency Housing, operating on an annual budget of about $130,000.

  • Loddon Mallee Housing Services

    BEH becomes Loddon Mallee Housing Services Ltd and annual budget tops $1 million for the first time.

  • ‘Homeless’

    LMHS adopts ‘Homeless’ by Thomas Kennington (1890) for its imagery.  This painting hangs in the Bendigo Art Gallery.

  • ‘Where the heart is’

    “Where the heart is” first appeared on the LHMS letterhead.

  • Certificate of Registration

    LHMS becomes the first registred Affordable Housing Association in Victoria

  • Wattlewood

    Wattlewood, Carrum Downs, formerly the GK Tucker Estate owned by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, was purchased. Wattlewood is an $80+ million masterplanned private property development with a 237 lot residential subdivision and 100 new affordable hosuing units integrated with private market homes.

  • Haven; Home, Safe

    LHMS becomes Haven; Home, Safe and relocated to Forest Street headquarters.

  • Tram Road

    Haven; Home, Safe completed its $34.5 million flagship project in Tram Road, Doncaster. It was officially opened by the Minister for Housing, Wendy Lovell.

  • Week 11 40 Stories Synergize Hub

    Synergize Hub

    Synergize Hub is the first Bendigo co-working organisation in a new worldwide movement, and the first co-working hub anywhere to be situated inside another organisation. The Hub are a collaboration of businesses passionate about creating a bright future for their clients and the wider community.

  • Preston

    The merger of HHS and Preston North East Housing Service enabling the delivery of better, more efficient services for disadvantaged and displaced Victorians, from the northern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne to Mildura.

  • Chapel Street, Bendigo

    Minister for Housing, Wendy Lovell officially opened the $6.65 million social housing development in Chapel Street, Bendigo.

  • Sidney Myer Haven Opens

    Sidney Myer Haven, the $7.5+ million program was officially opened by Baillieu Myer AC.

  • Sidney Myer Haven wins four awards

    Sidney Myer Haven wins three awards including:

    • PowerHousing Australia, Excellence in Tenant Engagement and Social Inclusion
    • Australasian Housing Institute, Anthony Hardy Excellence in Social Housing Award
    • Council to Homeless Persons, Excellence in ending homelessness – children and families
    • Australasian Housing Institute Excellence in Social Housing (National)
  • Ken Marchingo appointed a Member of the Order of Australia

    Chief Executive Officer Ken Marchingo AM appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2018 Australia Day Honours list. Ken received the honour for significant services to the community through social welfare programs and associations, particularly assistance for the homeless.

  • Haven; Home, Safe 40th Anniversary – 40 Stories in 40 Weeks

    Telling one story a week in 40 weeks to mark our 40th anniversary this year has brought its own rewards. It has reminded us of the important role we play in people’s lives and the impact we’ve had.

 CEO’s report

It should come as no surprise to those who have been following our 40 Stories in 40 Weeks series that our last installment coincides with the release of our 2017-2018 Annual Report. Our final storyteller this week, and for the year, is our CEO Ken Marchingo AM.

This video is both CEO Report and a reflection on the organisation’s 40 years of service, the past 25 years with Ken at the helm.

As he says, there are things we do, that if we did not do them, others would. But there are things that we do, that if we did not, no one else would and we would all be much the poorer for it.

“The defining feature of Haven; Home, Safe is the refusal to accept the status quo. We have never been an organisation that stops its ideas, innovations, and services at the boundaries of what the contract says.”

“Commercial realities apply, of course, and we cannot do more than we have the resources or funding to do, but we can, within that envelope and others combined, do more than just that. And we do.”

 EXECUTIVE TEAM 

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Our is arguably one of the most talented and highest performing in the not-for-profit sector, comprising a group of experts in their field, with collectively over 100 years experience in the social housing and homelessness sectors.

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A range of sustainable housing outcomes for people who are homeless or in housing crisis. 

Advocacy and support for our diverse clientele with a particular focus on developing life skills and individual capacity.

Relationships with government, community and commercial partners and other key stakeholders to achieve our Purpose and Values.

Resources, infrastructure and financial capacity of the organisation to achieve our Purpose and Values.

The organisation has enjoyed outstanding success throughout the year with a variety of tender submissions, including the 2017-2018 Victorian Property Fund grant round for $2.78 million to build 16 new homes at two sites in Bendigo.

We are contributing $1.84 million towards the $4.62 million building program, which will provide long-term affordable rental housing for low-income single youth and single young parents at risk of homelessness.

The Flora Hill site, on Somerville Street, will comprise four one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units, while the North Bendigo site at Lobb Street will be home to eight two-bedroom units. Both sites will be close to the Bendigo CBD, transport, schools, TAFE, community services and employment opportunities.

Support services will be a key component of the projects, with tenants of the Flora Hill site able to access the adjoining Sidney Myer Haven program, providing opportunities to participate in life-skill building activities and pre-vocational training programs.

All dwellings will include a range of environmentally sustainable design features, including heat pumps and solar boosted hot water systems, water saving taps and showerheads, and plumbed rainwater collection tanks to help reduce utility costs. Construction is expected to be completed in 2019. 

If there was one development that epitomises the saying, “where the heart is…” Wattlewood is it.

Sure we’re proud of the $80+ million master-planned private property development with a 237-lot residential subdivision and 100 new affordable housing units integrated with private market homes. Who wouldn’t be?

And we’re pretty chuffed about continuing the legacy of social housing on the 17.4 ha site, formerly known as the GK Tucker Estate, in Carrum Downs.

When we bought the property from the Brotherhood of St Laurence in 2009, we knew we were in for the long haul, demolishing a decommissioned aged care facility and 130 run-down units with 100 elderly residents in situ.

We committed to a staged redevelopment of the brownfield site to keep the elderly residents housed until their new homes were built because, as a social landlord, that was the right thing to do.

Along the way, we have had numerous permit delays, spent a massive amount of time and money on new infrastructure including roads and services, and tackled some tricky environmental issues, but it has all been worth it. (Although we never did find evidence of the protected Southern Toadlet).

Now, in 2018, the residents are all happily living their new homes with their new neighbours.

One of the happiest and oldest resident is Olive Fuller.

Olive turned 100 in October. We celebrated her birthday with family, friends and special guests Sonya Kilkenny and the Mayor of the City of Frankston Cr Colin Hampton.

In recognition of reaching this milestone, Olive will continue to live in her home rent-free, because Haven; Home, Safe, is where the heart is…

Smythe Place in Geelong is more than a much-needed home for single women over 45.

The refurbished bricks and mortar transformation of the two-storey student accommodation into 17 modern studio apartments in the heart of the city belies its social impact.

Smythe Place is a community, and the women who live there are actively engaged and have a say in the decisions that affect them, their housing situation, and the use of their shared spaces.

Regular “house meetings”, surveys, and face-to-face conferences are just some of the ways residents can raise issues with their property managers and access information about how to independently manage their tenancies and build their capacity to participate in work and the broader community.

We are currently redeveloping one of our ageing social housing properties in Glenlyon Road, North Fitzroy, to create state-of-the-art apartments to support independent living for up to 20 people living with a profound disability.

The project includes $4.5 million in upgrades using a $4.3 million grant from the Department of Social Security Supported Accommodation Infrastructure Fund (SAIF).

One of the biggest challenges to overcome has been the conversion of 30 x 36sqm apartments into 22 disability apartments with a majority at Livable Housing Platinum specification.

Our partners in this major project due to be completed next year include disability housing specialists Active Community Housing, Bent Architecture, and SAS Construction. 

Earlier this year we joined forces with independent, non-profit agency Bethany Community Support Inc to create Housing Direct, a new program to increase the supply of affordable housing options for people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Geelong. 

The program aims to increase access to affordable housing for low-income Victorians by providing a range of supports, including a direct pathway to long-term housing, for people experiencing homelessness.

Through Housing Direct and funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, we have provided five new homes and Bethany Community Support is providing case management support to enable the clients to sustain their housing and create connections to their local community.

Housing Direct also helps alleviate the bottleneck experienced by homelessness services in their emergency, refuge, short-term and transitional accommodation.

Bethany CEO, Grant Boyd (second from left) Haven; Home, Safe Chief Operations Officer Trudi Ray (third from left) with Hon John Eren MP.

This year marks three years since the official opening of Sidney Myer Haven (SMH).

We’ve always known how special the program was because no one else was doing it. Medium-term housing with intensive, individualised support programs tailored to each of the residents.

We also believed that the unique model was replicable, we just need to prove to potential funders of the program’s social and economic value. So we invited Think Impact to measure the Social Return on Investment (SROI).

The report is under wraps until 2019, but the results are very exciting with the Think Impact evaluators concluding that the Sidney Myer Haven program was transforming the lives and the lives of their children in the most profound ways and that the value of the program in circumventing the cycle of hardship and disadvantage could not be overstated.

The voices of SMH residents also show the life changing nature of SMH and its work:

“My mental health has improved. With stability of a safe home, knowing there is support I needed has taken such a weight off my life. I enjoy being a mother today. With routine in our lives, structure and play groups. I have gotten back into enjoying cooking… I set up goals to work toward my future career… starting to develop a life for myself with healthy friends and positive people. I started to like myself again, I look at myself as a strong woman. What this program has given me in 6 weeks is unbelievable. I’m grateful to this program. I couldn’t keep going at this world alone.”

“I’m dealing with my issues when they arise instead of avoiding them, and I am becoming the kind of parent I want to be to my daughter.”

“I have been able to go back to school support my two kids and been more independent. I can manage my money better and live comfortably”.

Orange Sky Laundry is an inspiring team who offer service to the homeless with their laundry and now shower facilities. Haven; Home, Safe can also assist with laundry facilities located at offices in Forest Street, Bendigo and Mary Street, Preston.

Every Tuesday morning Orange Sky’s van parks outside the Mary Street office to offer a mobile laundry and connect with people through conversations with friendly volunteers (pictured).

Congratulations to our own Haven; Home, Safe Good Neighbour Awards winners and nominees, and a big thank you to those who nominated them!

After much deliberation (it was extremely difficult to short list five winners) we are very excited to announce our official winners.

Brian Wolff – Belmont
Dannielle Campbell – Grovedale
Liz Egan – Geelong
Bill and Lois Giesler – Eaglehawk
Bob Guy – Boronia

Craig’s story is compelling viewing. Homeless for three years, Craig says we saved his life by finding him a home. “Having a home changed my life,” says Craig who is held his first exhibition, Faces of Bendigo, at LQ Markets in Strathdale.

We spoke with new mum Kimberly and her partner Josh about the challenges of being homeless with a new baby and the difficulties of applying for private rentals in the current market.

Kerry Ashley, our Director of Homelessness Acquisition and Development, reflects on her 15 years’ service with the organisation. Kerry is an innovator with an intrinsic knowledge of homelessness, social housing, specialist youth and family services and has played an integral role in the development of three major programs during this time.

Hear how Jo Smith, our dedicated senior worker in Initial Assessment and Planning in the Haven; Home, Safe Preston Office, copes when dealing with the everyday challenges of assisting people in housing crisis.

In 2011-2012, we commissioned journalist and author Sarah Harris and her husband Don Baker to write a history of the organisation.

We had planned to publish the 20,000+ word book to mark our 10th anniversary of becoming an Affordable Housing Association in 2015.

It was a “rollicking good read” according to the lucky few who had read the original manuscript at the time. Unable to secure enough private funding to cover the print costs, we shelved the project.

With our 40th anniversary approaching, we decided now was the time, so it was back to the drawing board for Sarah and Don to capture the past seven years.

True to the original intent, Homecoming is an oral history of our humble beginnings, struggles and successes to commemorate 40 years of service.

Each cleverly crafted each is based on is a subject theme, blending people’s anecdotal musings and reminiscences with extracts from archival records and reports.

Our organisation has survived and thrived over the past 40 years by forming long and short-term strategic partnerships and alliances. The best results from our strategic partnerships have come when we focus on our strengths while having reliable people in other organisations cover the areas outside of our expertise.

 
These partnerships take many forms and include relationships with government, community and commercial partners and other key stakeholders to achieve our Purpose. As we increasingly do our work through and with others, we seek long-term collaborators, with whom we can deliver end-to-end services, and this includes financier and service delivery relationships.

ACTIVE COMMUNITY HOUSING

Active Community Housing has now moved in to share our Metro office in Mary Street, Preston.
Supporting people with disabilities, Active are now preparing their brand new state of the art showroom, the ‘Assistive Housing Hub’. Learn more about this fantastic partnership Active shares with Haven; Home, Safe.

ARC JUSTICE

ARC Justice provides housing and legal services across much of Central Victoria. They work to protect and enhance the rights and interests of those in our community who are disadvantaged due to structural, social, economic or cultural inequalities.

Community Sector Banking

Meet Bruce Argyle, State Manager for Victoria of Community Sector Banking, to talk about the role that CSB has had in the 40 years of Haven; Home, Safe.

DAVID CONDLIFFE

David Condliffe Esq. visited our teams in Preston and Bendigo at the beginning of July, talking about the incredible results that can be achieved when you see the ‘person’ rather than the circumstance.

This year has been an incredibly busy one for our non-trades maintenance social enterprise, Hive Property Services (Vic).

In addition to generating 12,851 hours of paid work, Hive launched a new website, had a little name change, and gained some well-deserved recognition at a national level, featuring in Dollars and Sense, a ground-breaking book that champions and celebrates the social enterprise in Australia and has just recently become Social Traders certified.

Certification provides brand credibility and will enhance Hive’s prospects of winning commercial procurement contracts with business and Government buyers so we can pursue our social purpose.

As a certified Social Trader, Hive will have access to exclusive networking opportunities and connections to the broader social enterprise community and stay abreast of current sector developments.

There are about 20,000 social enterprises in Australia. It is estimated that for every $100,000 spent on social procurement, 1.5 jobs are created for those suffering or at risk of disadvantage.

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Every three years the organisation submits itself to an independent review against the Department of Health and Human (DHHS) Standards.

The purpose of regulation in the human services sector is to protect clients ensuring the lives of vulnerable Victorians are enhanced through the delivery of services which promote safety and wellbeing, and reduce risk of harm.

It’s a snapshot in time, to be sure, and compliance with the Standards is an ongoing requirement and indeed a major focus of our work.

So, we were thrilled to read the feedback on our 2018 review by the independent auditors from Quality Innovation Performance (QIP) in which we scored 97.5% compliance to the Standards.

“(The organisation is) flexible, innovative, and manages its resources with skill and care.”

“Staff expressed confidence in their skills and the support they receive from their managers, and stakeholders confirmed that they are excellent partners, maintaining a long-standing commitment to assertive outreach and wrap-around service delivery in a challenging environment,”

Quality Innovation Performance (QIP) auditors

We are positioning the organisation as a sector leader in the digital space with the implementation or a range of innovative and creative platforms, services and tools.

Over the past year, as part of our ICT Roadmap II, we have built and implemented HomeBase, a Sharepoint cloud-based platform which we use as our centralised document management system and primary internal communications and information hub. HomeBase enables us to share and collaborate with colleagues and to access internal sites, documents, and other information from anywhere —at the office, at home, or from a mobile device.

Add to this a VPN solution to improve remote network access and an automated web-based HR system complete with customer kiosk to empower and engage staff as they take control of their own information.

Our newest tech-tool is the Papercut roaming print service “follow me” which allows print jobs to find users based on their physical location.

Innovative digital technology solutions like these and more are helping to make everyone jobs more efficient and our workforce more connected.

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We are the second largest Approved Participant under the National Rental Affordability Scheme in Victoria managing the compliance obligations for 1,138 NRAS dwellings.

While the majority of the NRAS incentives are attached to dwellings owned by private investors, a proportion are allocated to properties that we own across the state.

Since the scheme started in 2011, we have built and maintained strong partnerships with more than 40 private property managers, the Department of Social Services, and Department of Health and Human Services.

Last November, the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) Regulations 2008 were amended to create protections for investors of approved rental dwellings in NRAS and allow investors to request a change of their Approved Participant in certain circumstances.

In response to these changes, and to assist investors considering transferring their incentives, we developed a dedicated online presence to answer common questions and links to a range of information resources, including our policy to comply with the Act and the Regulations and pass on the incentives to the investors within 30-days.

One year on and we are about to host the first of our information evenings for those investors considering making the switch.

As a responsible social landlord, we are committed to achieving excellence by delivering high-quality services to our tenants.

Maximising income from rents ensures we can continue to deliver our services to the highest possible standards and is fundamental to achieving our strategic goals of More Homes, More Supports, More Partnerships and More Capacity.

Rent First is a two-year strategy aimed to ensure we have suitable and robust arrangements in place to prevent debt, maximise rental income and minimise arrears.

One key objectives of the Rent First strategy is to address the needs of our most vulnerable, complex and financially challenged tenants.

According to the Centre for Social Impact (Financial Resilience in Australia 2017), one in eight adults in Australia (12.6 per cent) experienced severe or high financial stress during 2017. This means that they are less able to bounce back when things go wrong, such as a higher than expected utility bill or a broken washing machine.

More than half (56.3 per cent) felt some level of financial stress compared with 53.2 per cent a year earlier.

Although our affordable rents are set at a level that means a tenant should never be in rent stress, their ability to access low cost basic financial products and services and manage their budget effectively, will sometimes dictate whether they are able to prioritise their rent payments over and above other competing priorities.

To ensure a consistent statewide response, we recently entered a partnership arrangement with Good Shepherd Microfinance to provide free debt counselling, money advice, and access to interest free loans which could be used to clear debt to avoid eviction or to purchase items that might otherwise have been purchased using funds set aside for rent, resulting in rent arrears.

Good Shepherd Microfinance is a charity that has been involved in delivering microfinance and money advice and debt counseling solutions to vulnerable Victorians for over 35 years. They have extensive experience of the financial needs of low income Australians, which gives them a unique understanding of the importance of helping people manage their finances with dignity.

We have been putting the fun into fundraising again this year.

To date, we’ve sold 569 Keep Cups and hope to sell even more in the lead up to Christmas with our glass versions arriving in October. They make an ideal Kris Kringle gift, and you can support Haven; Home, Safe by buying one here. And there’s nothing sweeter than raising over $1000 from the sale of Gingerbread Houses from Harvest and Hot Cross Buns from the Sourdough Bakery.

But it’s not just us fundraising to support our clients, countless others have joined in the fun including Bendigo Fresh Wholesalers who raised nearly $1800 from selling juice in July and the mums and dads at Strathfieldsay Primary School. Their Trivia Night raised $1700. In Preston, OrangeSky Laundry offers a free weekly service and the Junction Hotel patrons in association with the Melbourne Racing Club Foundation and Pegasus Leisure Group donated $1000 donation and are sponsoring an end of year lunch for all our clients in December.

Throughout the year we receive hundreds of donations – big and small – of cash, vouchers and gift cards, non-perishable foods, clothing, and toiletries. Including $268 from the students at Mildura Christian College who had to cancel their camping trip due to wet and cold weather, so they decided to raise funds for the homeless instead  and husband and wife travelling around Australia dropped off a hand knitted rugs. Apparently, she knits and donates blankets to different homeless organisations around the country.

We also receive weekly food bags and amazing Christmas hampers from Victory Church, snacks from Preston Coles, soaps from Urthly Organics, parents and kids packs from Bendigo TAFE, underwear and personal care packs from Encompass Care, hand-knitted beanies and scarves from Epping RSL, quilts from Uniting Threads, regular supplies of toiletry packs from Zonta, Bendigo Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Services, vouchers from KISS FM, and Share the Dignity supplies bags of sanity products and stocks a vending machine with pads and tampons in Bendigo and will shortly install a maching in Preston, just to name a few. Staff and their family and friends also donate hundreds of dollars and fund-raise on our behalf. People are amazingly generous and, in turn, were are incredibly grateful to be your charity of choice.

 Our people

Adrian Holdsworth
Ahmed Shire
Akosita Tamanisau
Alan Fox
Alison Fraser
Alysia Slattery
Amelia Gravette
Amy Hickey
Andrea McCubbin
Andrea Levey
Andrew Chittenden
Anita Wells
Ann Timmons
Anne Roberts
Anne Mangan
Anne-Maree Bunney
Annette Sayle
Annette Campbell
Antoinette Dezoyza
Avry Zhao
Barbara Devcic
Belinda Rogers
Belinda Pumpa
Benita Menting
Betsy Faulkhead
Beverley Croughan
Bianca Hurmez
Blake Dillon
Blake Hogan
Bradley Quinn
Brannon Stanford
Breannan King
Brett Minnis
Cameron Boyle
Catherine Goss
Catherine Zoch
Catherine O'Connor
Chantel Hogan
Chenbo Yu
Christine Mumford
Cliff Breed
Con Charakas
Cristean Tilkeridis
Daniel Johnstone
Danni Ramalingam
David Pfeiffer
David Stafford
David Bellot
David Blenheim
Deanne Pain
Denis Grinton
Dharma Dharmakularajah
Dillon Capell
Donna Gillard
Donna Le-gallant
Elaine Kerr
Elise Watts
Eliza Hughes
Ellen Morgan
Erin Wall
Evan Doherty
Farid Memarzadeh
Felicity Cooper
Franc DePetro
Francis McGowan
Gail McNaulty
Geoffrey Vendy
Geoffrey Doyle
George Borlas
Georgia Evans
Gino Monitto
Glenn Rivett
Guiseppe DiBenedetto
Hannah Aisbett
Hannah Petocz
Harminder Saini
Helen Symes
Helen Watts
Ilo Siljanovski
Ivana Blekic
Jaclyn Felton
Jacob Fahey
Jacqueline Kett
Janine Vaughan
Jasmin Sullivan
Jessica Box
Jill Paoli
Jillian Hudson
Joanna Smith
Joanna Leckie
Jocelyn Heazlewood
Josclin Tyler
Joseph Mapiva Salamasina
Joseph Rebakis
Joshua Nankervis
Julie Salt
Karen Bailes
Katherine Papprill
Kelly Macartney
Ken Marchingo
Kent Fury
Kerri Carr
Kerrie Treacy
Kerrie Gibson
Kerry Ashley
Kim Mackay
Kim Byrne
Kim Williams
Kirsty Ash
Kris House
Kym Smithers
Kyra Bowen
Leonie Ireland
Lilian Nieves-Caligdong
Lisa Druitt
Lolita Bell
Louise Clancy
Lucy Carolan
Madelyn Andrew
Margaret Schubert
Mario Roccisano
Marnie Olsen
Matthew Audet
Matthew Shaw
Megan Richardson
Melissa Brown
Melissa Mannix
Melissa Elliott
Melissa Croft
Melissa Bilton
Meryl Aicken
Michael Ashton
Michael Fitzpatrick
Michelle Hewett
Michelle Casamento
Michelle Mills
Monica O'Shannessy
Neil Heatley
Neil Taylor
Nele Lobitz
Niall Hensey
Nicole Woodman
Oystein Sandvik
Page Gallimore
Patrizia Cavalieri
Paul Somerville
Paul Reid
Paula Shay
Peter Barker
Phillipa Doyle
Rachael Skipper
Rachael Chen
Rachel Gellatly
Rachelle Beckett
Raechel Penno
Raymond Jansen
Rebecca Dix
Rebecca Eliason
Riva Bohm
Robert DiVincenzo
Robert Jamieson
Rochelle Stanton
Rohan Milne
Rosemarie Farrell
Rowena Bolden
Sally MacKay
Samantha Love
Sandra Broz
Sharon Young
Sheilagh Pobjie
Shelley Payne
Sheryl Batrouney
Shona Barton
Sophia Hynes
Sophie Ryan
Stacey Jankovski
Stephen Paton
Steve Morris
Steven Brennan
Susan Hetherington
Susan Devaney
Susan Masters
Susan Walker
Susan Hallorina
Susan Devereaux
Susan Farrell
Tammy McDonald
Tania Stewart
Taylah Dower
Terri Schleibs
Tia Todd
Tiffany McAuliffe
Timothy Cotton
Timothy Murphy
Timothy Sullivan
Tracey Roberts
Trevor Gibbs
Trish Ferrara
Trudi Ray
Tully Simpson
Val Khammy
Vanessa Parr
Vicki Psaropoulos
Wendy Comer
Willow Blackwood
Yan Huang
Zoe McColl
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“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Steve Jobs

Our annual All Staff Days get bigger and better every year. For the first time in 2018, staff from Bendigo, Geelong and the Mallee travelled to Melbourne for the event.

We were joined by partner agency Active Community Housing and guest speakers Ged Kearney MP, Batman, and senior staff from the NDIA.

There were inspirational speeches from the Chair Sue Clarke, CEO Ken Marchingo AM, and incoming COO Trudi Ray and a Culture Workshop facilitated by Executive Director Kerri Carr to lay the foundations of our new Culture Club, which will promote and enable diversity and inclusion across the organisation.

The highlight of All Staff Days are the recognition and presentation of awards to long-serving staff, especially the 2017-18 Employee of the Year award to Robert Divincenzo and the Barb Devcic award recipient, Benita Menting.

Robert Divincenzo

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

As a member of the NRAS team, Robert was cited for his willingness to guide staff and share his knowledge of the complexities of the National Rental Affordability Scheme.

“Robert has gone above and beyond to ensure that the deadlines of the NRAS team are collectively met even if it meant he was working outside of his core working hours,” wrote one of the nominators.

“He fully embraces innovation and change … and is across all changes to NRAS Regulations.”

It was noted in one nomination that Robert takes a collaborative approach with investors and property managers alike, (including) Accord Real Estate and Apartment Specialist who manage 138 and 80 NRAS dwellings respectively. When he took over the NRAS compliance for these properties, there were a significant number of overdue assessments.

“Robert worked patiently and diligently with the property managers on a daily basis to turn the suite of portfolios around. This included multiple visits to their premises to provide detailed training on the principles underpinning NRAS and HHS’s requirements.

“Under Robert’s guidance, Accord has made major improvements to its systems and processes and, in doing built strong relationships.”

And finally, “He never waivers or complains and always holds HHS in the highest esteem with his dealing with external stakeholders. Being an open plan office we are all privy to conversations held on the phone and this helps us follow his lead on how to deal with all stakeholders .”

Benita Menting

BARB DEVCIC AWARD

Benita received high praise for being “a supportive leader who works collaboratively with Management, Senior workers, Homeless Services Team and Staff”.

“Benita has been amazing in her role as acting Homeless Services Team Leader for over one year, and in her role Acting as General Manager on few occasions,” one of the nominators said.

“Her optimism, client focus, and hands-on approach are both remarkable and admirable.

“Working closely with Benita makes a gargantuan task easier, not only is she willing to give her time, she actively listens, which helps to take the load off a stressful situation.

“Benita emulates all of HHS’s Values”, said another nominator. “Benita is wholly ethical, is one of the most trustworthy people you can meet, and shows everyone the same dignity and respect. Benita treats clients and colleagues with the same esteem.”

“She chooses universal improvement in all daily practice, showing exceptional initiative leading to significant improvement in work processes, most recently with the implementation of moving all Case Management work practices to an electronic (no paper wastage anymore) system. This has been a huge task and has taken several years to implement.”

 Financial Snapshot 2017-18

Properties 2006 - 2018

Total property numbers have increased as a result of growth in the number of head leased properties, for the most part allocated to people who have experienced family violence.

The number of owned affordable housing properties has reduced as a result of the decommissioning of a larger Melbourne metropolitan property. This will be redeveloped with new properties created over the next 18 months.

Total Assets 1998-2018
Total assets have increased to over $324m as a result of new construction activities, revaluation of the property portfolio and continuation of works at our Wattlewood project in Carrum Downs.
Income 1998 - 2018
Operating and other income continue to grow strongly as HHS operations expand and value of property portfolio increases.
Equivalent Full Time Staff 1998-2018