Our History
A place of hope for over 45 years.
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Our History
A place of hope for over 45 years.
A place of hope for over 45 years.
Not far from the multi-million dollar apartments, bars and fine dining on the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo you’ll find a community rich in social and cultural diversity, yet isolated and mostly unacknowledged by society.
Located just 1.5 kilometres from the Sydney CBD, 80% of the people in this area are dependent on social security payments. Some live in social housing, hostels or in crisis accommodation, but many miss out, and as a result Woolloomooloo has the highest concentration of people sleeping rough in NSW.
As well as having nowhere to sleep at night, around 75% of the homeless population experience mental illness.
This is where BaptistCare HopeStreet originated, and for over 34 years, they have been reaching out to people who are in need and are at risk of or experiencing homelessness, addiction, mental health and legal issues, in addition to having diminished employment opportunities.
HopeStreet has been putting faith into action, and has been a trusted place in some of the most vulnerable communities, offering hope to people living on the margins with disadvantage and distress.
A new era of HopeStreet was acknowledged in 2018, when we affirmed the uniqueness of every BaptistCare Community Centre, while asking the question, “Aren’t they providing hope too?”
Newcastle’s suburb of Windale is one of the most disadvantaged communities in NSW, and this disadvantaged is entrenched; little has changed in the last two decades and the stigma Windale experiences is alive and well.
Wellington, a short 40 minutes away from Dubbo, is known as the “South Pole”, taking its place as the ice capital of Australia, and bringing with it a range of crippling issues for the community.
But communities are made of people, not issues, and every person matters and deserves access to support, services and hope.
For over 45 years, HopeStreet has worked with women and children escaping domestic and family violence, and men who are seeking to take responsibility for their abusive behaviour. We have a proven track record in supporting families with our professional, compassionate and innovative services.
Since we started out on our fair finance journey ten years ago, HopeStreet has delivered over $11.5 million worth of no-interest and low-interest loans to people experiencing significant financial distress.
Our purpose, to transform lives by expressing the love of Christ underpins this work, which we do in partnership with our supporters, donors, local organisations, agencies and government, to build up people and communities.
The HopeStreet story is growing day by day, and since its inception right up until now, we know we need the help of people who can see what we see to continue transforming lives of men, women, children and families.
