YWCA Canberra has smashed the target of its End of Financial Year Fundraiser, with the Canberra community rallying to raise $47,119— exceeding the $40,000 target.
Every dollar raised will go towards the deposit on a new two-bedroom apartment, providing a safe, secure and permanent home for a woman in the ACT.
The campaign was driven by an outpouring of community generosity, including major contributions from the Wesley Charity Concert hosted by the Order of St Lazarus and Wesley Uniting Church ($13,036), the Murrumbidgee Canberra Rotary Club ($5,000), and Capital Noise through their event Grrls to the Front ($1,280), alongside personal donations from across the Canberra community and the ongoing support of YWCA Canberra’s regular donors.
YWCA Canberra CEO Frances Crimmins said the result reflected Canberra’s belief that housing is the answer to homelessness.
“We’re not servicing homelessness. We’re solving it with housing,” Ms Crimmins said.
“Bricks and mortar change lives. Every service, every program, every intervention we deliver works better when a woman has a front door she can close and a key that belongs to her.
“This fundraiser means we can put a deposit on a two-bedroom apartment which is a real, permanent home for a woman in our community. That’s not a band-aid. That’s a solution.”
The new apartment will add to YWCA Canberra’s growing portfolio of housing for women, in a city where women particularly older women and those escaping domestic and family violence remain at heightened risk of homelessness.
About YWCA Canberra
YWCA Canberra is a feminist not-for-profit organisation that has provided community services and represented women’s issues in Canberra since 1929. Our mission is to strengthen communities by supporting girls and women through our services and advocacy, and our vision is girls and women thriving.
YWCA Canberra media contact:
Eleanor Sander O’Hearn
Executive Director Communications Advocacy and Engagement
eleanor.sanderohearn@ywca-canberra.org.au
0475 240 101