Lou's Place

Partners donation form

Sally — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:27:41 +0000

Protected: Board minutes September 2010

Sally — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:31:48 +0000

Protected: Board minutes July 2010

Sally — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:26:12 +0000

Protected: Board minutes May 2010

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Protected: Board minutes Feb 2010

Sally — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:19:23 +0000

Jaye Gardner, treasurer

Sally — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 21:21:59 +0000

Jaye Gardner has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Queensland. She has 20 years experience in corporate finance, commencing with the Corporate Services Division of Coopers & Lybrand following graduation from university in 1990 and then joining Grant Samuel in 1994. Jaye has been an executive director of Grant Samuel since January 2001. She has been involved in all areas of corporate finance and has particular expertise in mergers and acquisitions, asset sales, business valuations and independent expert’s reports. Jaye has been involved in assignments across a wide range of industries, but with a focus on the media, property and financial services industries. Her clients range from listed companies to mutuals, private families and not-for-profit groups. Jaye was appointed Treasurer and joined the Board in September 2010.

Manager’s Letter, September 2010

Sally — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:54:39 +0000

We recently conducted a six month review of new client intakes to assess our client base and our assumption that the demographic hardest hit by homelessness appears to be women over the age the age of 45. Whilst our client base currently ranges from 18 to 86, our median age has now shifted over the 40 mark. The statistics for women over the age of 45 are of great concern:

Almost 50% of new clients are over the age of 45

50% are homeless

50% of those women are homeless for the first time

8% are sleeping rough with the balance staying in refuges, hostels, with family and friends

What are the contributing factors to this trend in older women becoming homeless for the first time?

Whilst domestic violence and relationship breakdown are the key factors, many clients cite mental illness, physical illness, financial issues and unemployment.

Ludo McFerran recently published the report “It could be you: Female, single, older and homeless”, a collaborative project of Homelessness NSW, the Older Women’s Network NSW and the St Vincent de Paul Society, with support provided by the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse – HYPERLINK “http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/It%20could%20be%20you%20Final.pdf” http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/It%20could%20be%20you%20Final.pdf.

Women over the age of 45 are considered ‘older’ for the purpose of this study. Now whilst I initially took exception to being classified as being on the cusp of being an ‘older woman’, particularly on the eve of my 44^th birthday, “This decision reflected a number of factors, including the lower life expectancy of Indigenous women and the ageing benchmark of 45 years used in the Personal Safety Survey 2005”.

Ludo interviewed clients of several refuges and day services, including Lou’s Place for the report. She reviewed our statistics and commented:

“These are very disturbing statistics. We are very concerned that we are now seeing the beginning of a real wave of single women in their fifties and sixties who for largely economic reasons can no longer afford the roof over their heads. We can directly link this to be the impact of divorce, with clear evidence that women will be financially disadvantaged, age discrimination forcing women out of the workforce, and wage inequality and part time work resulting in women ageing much poorer than men. Lou’s Place is on the frontline of this looming disaster and is uniquely placed to lobby for housing and employment policies to respond to the crisis”

Single women over the age of forty five are particularly vulnerable to the threat of homelessness. Many of us are a few pay packets away from homelessness. If we lose our job or are unable to work due to an accident, physical or mental illness and we don’t have the safety net of family and friends, it could very easily happen to us.

Female, single, older and homeless – it could be you, me, your sister, mother, aunt, grandmother or friend.

Protected: OHS Safety Management System August 2010

Sally — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 03:50:34 +0000

Protected: OHS Policy August 2010

Sally — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 03:46:15 +0000

Protected: AGM minutes 1 September 2010

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