Your gift will help change the lives of vulnerable women and children Help us deliver 25 new homes for women and children at risk of homelessness Dear Friend, In 2022, Women’s Property Initiatives (WPI) celebrates its 25th Anniversary. That’s 25 years and more than 100 homes provided for women and children who were facing an uncertain future. We are proud of the impact we have made but there is so much more to do. On any given night, 49,000 Australian women are homeless. Every year 39,000 women and children seek help for homelessness because of domestic and family violence. And because they don't have a secure, affordable place to live, 7,690 women a year are forced to return to the perpetrators. To mark our 25 year milestone, we are launching a campaign to deliver 25 new homes for women over the next three years. A secure home is a new beginning. It is a foundation for a happier, healthier life. Can you help us change the lives of women and children living in housing crisis? These new homes will profoundly improve the lives of women and their families. Women like our current tenant, Jo, who couch surfed for over a decade before finding a home through WPI. Jo is a talented artist, but her income was irregular and often low. Unable to afford a secure home of her own she started house sitting, minding pets when people went on holidays and hopping from one friend’s sofa to another. The stress and anxiety took a terrible toll on her mental health. “It was awful. I didn’t know where my next meal would come from.” Says Jo. Since moving into her own one bedroom apartment in 2017, where the rent is affordable and her home is secure, Jo says her mental health has improved. “I feel like me again. These days I appreciate everything I have – hot water, fresh food and natural light through my window. It’s my apartment and I will never take that for granted.” Jo is now using her lived experience to advocate for other women who are going through what she did. Bea is another one of WPI’s tenants whose life has been transformed by secure housing. Bea and her son experienced violence at the hands of her ex-partner. They lived in grossly inadequate housing where the lack of security enabled her ex-partner to continually intimidate and frighten them. After finding a WPI home, Bea and her son Leo began a new life. “I had forgotten what it felt like not to jump at every sound or to push a couch or something heavy against the door before I went to sleep. It was a sense of peace and calm that I had never felt before.” Bea is a testament to the difference that a safe and secure home makes. With a stable foundation she has been able to pursue a career in the community sector where she is helping other people. Having worked and saved incredibly hard, Bea recently bought a home of her own! The need for the homes that we provide continues to grow, worsened by the pandemic and the rental affordability crisis. We need your help to deliver an additional 25 homes. Please donate now to make this possible. Yours Sincerely Jeanette Large, CEO, Women’s Property Initiatives PS: Can you make your donation monthly? Just $10 a month would make an enormous difference to our capacity to help more women in need. Just select the "make this a monthly gift" option on the donation form. |