This week is National Homelessness Week and on August 9, CafeSmart will unite the community over our favourite brew, to help fund local homeless services across Australia.
According to 2016 Census data, around 116,000 people in Australia are without a safe and secure place to call home every night. The situation is dire, with older women the fastest growing cohort, many finding themselves homeless for the first time. Despite the growing need, many homelessness services are underfunded or have lost funding. CafeSmart is a major national campaign run on the energy and commitment of the coffee industry, where generous participating cafes will donate $1 from every coffee sold and customers are asked to chip in and match that $1. More than 700 cafes, coffee roasters and businesses across Australia will be raising funds to positively impact their local communities on August 9.
CafeSmart and StreetSmart campaigns funnel locally raised donations back into local services that are working on the front line, many of which have little public funding to sustain their work. These are organisations serving up hot meals, providing showers and street level medical services, putting roofs over people’s heads, providing legal services, rental advice, employment advice, training and pathways etc, and working towards long term solutions to the homelessness crisis.
“We think much more can be done. The cafes who have joined up to support CafeSmart also think we can do more. CafeSmart is really a reflection of how our community wants to do something to help people in their neighbourhoods, and solve the problem. It’s a great team effort,” said Adam Robinson CEO of StreetSmart Australia.
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