President’s Report 2020

These last 12 months at Gold Coast Project for Homeless Youth Inc (GCPHY) have been … different. 

The year commenced with the entire organisation, our volunteer base and our community implementing strategic plans for growth, diversity, and an efficient delivery of service to the young people in our community experiencing homelessness.  The year finished with a concerted response to a global pandemic!  It may be worth dissecting this report in two parts – 1. Pre-Pandemic and 2. Amidst-Pandemic.

Pre-Pandemic

I would like to thank the team of staff and volunteers at GCPHY for their continuous and never-ending commitment to improving our service and the lives of the young people in our care.   I would like to thank the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works for their continued support and collaboration.  GCPHY has continued to adapt our services and delivery to the needs of the Gold Coast and surrounding communities, which is a collaborative effort from everyone at GCPHY as well as Government and community sector business dedicated to the service and support of young people experiencing homelessness. 

This collaboration has resulted in GCPHY adapting our delivery to focus on semi-independent housing and support for young people to thrive. Supported Transitional Accommodation for Youth (STAY) program has grown significantly and is extended by the SPIN program in collaboration with Community Housing Limited  and the Department of Housing and Public Works to continue our success in transitioning our young people to independence. 

Employment programs, placements and collaborations with organisations across the Gold Coast have then contributed to the gainful employment of dozens of our young people and the support from our dedicated GCPHY team has kept the young people in our care at school and achieving success with their studies.

The Management Committee is proud of the success of the Team at GCPHY every day and their contribution to the support, growth, development and opportunities they create for the young people.  Everything at GCPHY was developing well, including a range of social entrepreneurship programs for our young people and staff, and then COVID-19 happened…

Amidst Pandemic

A Pandemic Plan is something an organisation holds but hopes to never implement.  Well, GCPHY has been operating within our Pandemic Plan and various other procedural nuances as COVID-19 has impacted our country and the world.  The Management Committee admires the Management and Staff at GCPHY as this global pandemic has challenged many personal and professional aspects of life.  At a service level, GCPHY responded to the needs, demands and restrictions of our organisation operating during COVID-19.  The support for our young people that was offered through the  Federal and Statement Governments, particularly financial support through the Job Seeker initiative, has assisted young people accessing these payments to find accommodation within the increased budgets and cashflow.  It has been interesting to observe how some extra financial support to our young people can have such a large impact on their financial capacity to support themselves in the community. 

At an organisational level, the restrictions on tenancies imposed by COVID-19 has been easier to manage as some young people who would ordinarily require a bed, are living independently.  GCPHY expect this to change dramatically as soon as the payments under Job Seeker and other stimulus packages are no longer provided to our young people.

I have confidence in the Team at GCPHY to manage our transition out of COVID restrictions and the effect of the stimulus packages on the young people, yet we expect pressure on our organisation to quickly adapt to the needs of our Community and young people in the next 12 months.  These are uncertain times for GCPHY, our staff, our young people, our families and our friends and the Management Committee is proud of the dedication and outcomes achieved by everyone throughout the past 12 months and we are actively making opportunities for the next 12 months ahead.

The Next 12 Months

It is important to the Management Committee that we are strategically planning for the post-COVID environment and community.  To this end, the Management Committee has advanced planning for a social entrepreneurship program incorporating social ventures for our staff and young people to engage in employment, business planning and operations, as well as professional and personal development programs. 

We would like to thank the numerous Rotary Groups across the Gold Coast for their continued support to create a novel program for our young people through social enterprise opportunities.  As GCPHY broadens the delivery of our service and impact we have on the lives of our young people, the Management Committee is excited to announce we are investigating a “Rebranding” of GCPHY to better reflect our service and support.

The Management Committee anticipates a number of social enterprises to be implemented in the next 12 months, and a re-branding to reflect the development of the organisation over the decades to allow for the entire Team at GCPHY to thrive in the decades ahead of us!

We will communicate these plans as they mature and look forward to the support from our members as GCPHY ventures in to innovative and entrepreneurial opportunities in pursuit of continued service excellence and delivery!

Andrew Antonopoulos