Sharing breakfast to develop life and tenancy skills

Each Tuesday Gabby (pictured) and Bridie cook up a big breakfast and serve it up in the Anglicare Activity Room in Nhulunbuy to people living rough.

“I know how hard it is to eat good food when living rough, plus I enjoy cooking for people” said Gabby Kennedy, Coordinator of the Housing Option Pathway Program (HOPP) in East Arnhem Land.

Feeding people is an important part of the outreach breakfast program, but equally important is the opportunity to help connect homeless people with services like housing support, health checks and legal aid support.

When people are sleeping rough they can be hard to find, and harder still to support. Sharing breakfast on Tuesdays means Gabby and Bridie know who’s in town and what services they need to be linked up with.

Food donations make the breakfasts possible

Woolworths in Nhulunbuy is a keen supporter of the HOPP breakfast through their food donation program. Over 75% of the food served at the HOPP breakfast is donated by Woolies which can feed up to 25 people each week.

“Over seventy percent of the food we serve is donated by Woollies” said Gabby who has a great working relationship with supermarket staff. “It’s not uncommon for the meat donations to be worth hundreds of dollars. There is no way we could serve the range food we do at the breakfasts without the support from Woolworths,” said Gabby.

A lot of the food donated be Woolies is shared among other Anglicare programs and clients in need.

Gabby Kennedy with the Nhulunbuy Woolworths team on a regular food donation visit.

Housing Option Pathway Program is more than breakfast

Like all rental properties, public housing has tenancy rules. When the rules are broken, people can face eviction. Tenancy Support works closely with Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities to avoid people losing their tenancies and potentially becoming homeless.

HOPP offers tenancy support to families and individuals referred from any source who are experiencing issues that put their tenancies at risk. Through short to medium term, flexible case management and practical support tailored to agreed case plans, the program staff work with families to avoid eviction. “There are families learning about tenancy for the first time said Gabby. “We work with people so they can pass rental inspections and protect their tenancy in the short term and in the long term”.