Evolve Housing Newsletter, April 2024

RAG Chat

The end of 2023 saw the conclusion of the current group members of the Resident Advisory Group (RAG) and the Maintenance Advisory Group (MAG).

Evolve Housing has now welcomed new nominations including 19 residents on the RAG and 11 on the MAG for 2024–2025.

These residents are your representatives and will help Evolve Housing over the next two years with important feedback on programs, policies and procedures, processes, activities and events that affect all residents. We are all looking forward to the next two years at making sure that Evolve Housing keeps residents at the centre of everything we do. Both Advisory groups will keep you informed on their progress through our newsletter RAG Chat section.

The RAG had their first meeting in February and 16 members were in attendance and engaged in workshopping the plan for the year ahead.

This included brainstorming guest speakers the members would like to hear from this year. They also brainstormed some project ideas to work on and some great ideas were put forward.  We welcome all our new and renominated members and look forward on keeping you informed on their work and initiatives in 2024 in future newsletters.

Acknowledgement of Country

Evolve Housing acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land where we deliver our housing services. We acknowledge and pay our respects to all Elders past, present and future. We welcome all First Nations Peoples to our services, as we walk together towards reconciliation.

RAP update

As a first step to understanding the level of cultural awareness across our organisation, staff participated in an online survey, with 84% responding.

The results will inform our approach to increase and support awareness of staff as part of our commitment to reconciliation.

Last year, both of our staff and residents participated in creating some beautiful boomerang artwork, led by a Koomurri artist.

We are pleased to announce that the art is now framed and will be hung around the Parramatta office.

Happy Easter

Evolve Housing would like to wish all our residents and community members a Happy Easter.

Easter is a Christian cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus. Christians fast for 40 days, known as lent, where they reflect and prepare for the celebration of Easter.

Ramadan Mubarak

Evolve Housing would like to wish all our Muslim residents who observe the holy month of Ramadan, a Ramadan Kareem.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days before celebrating Eid.

Your Tenant Portal is coming soon!

In the coming weeks we will be launching the Tenant Portal. You will soon be receiving an email and letter in the mail to let you know how to set up and update your details.

We will also have easy to follow videos and user-guides available on our website to give you information and tips on how to manage your portal seamlessly.

Once you register and login, you will be able to:

• Update your contact information (phone numbers and emails),

• Interact with Evolve Housing staff by receiving and providing real-time feedback for open enquiries including maintenance, events, rent review, and more,

• Access an overview of all your pending enquiries and updates,

Women’s Coffee Club

• Pay your rent and find the balances of your rent and water accounts,

• Submit your Rent Review form and documentation through your portal,

• Access articles generated from Frequently Asked Questions relating to tenancy and property maintenance,

• Access Fact Sheets, Polices and Forms and;

• Complete Service Satisfaction Surveys to assist us in delivering high quality customer service.

Residents will be kept up to date on all details leading up to the launch and steps required to set up your account details through our website. Stay up to date on your tenant portal by visiting: www.evolvehousing.com.au/tenantportal

Women’s Coffee Club is a space for women to come together and build social connections. Have a chat with a coffee and cake on us! Our next catch up will be 10am–12pm on

Wednesday 29th May 2024 at Kaffeine & Co. Cafe, 44 Dargan Street, Yagoona

For more information, please contact Terina on 0412 806 461 or via email community@evolvehousing.com.au

Annual Resident Christmas Party 2023

Evolve Housing residents had a great time celebrating Christmas at Penrith Panthers Leagues Club.

We had over 220 enthusiastic residents of all ages and backgrounds attend the free event in December 2023.

Families with children could not get enough of the planned activities including the popular Aqua Golf, dance competition, water slide, jumping castle, magician, outdoor games, face painting and airbrush tattoos.

The adults and seniors also had fun with incredible live entertainment, bingo with prizes, and delicious food!

Our residents could not be any more pleased with the event and praised Evolve Housing for “going to the next level with these events” and are looking forward to seeing what we have in store for them this year.

IMAGINATE Highlight

Imaginate Aquatopia welcomed 48 residents to our second water-based activity for the school holidays in January 2024.

Aquatopia provided waterslides, wave pools and family friendly water play options to our residents and staff on the day. We provided lunch and shared information with our residents on available services they can access. Our Imaginate school holiday activities and other resident

engagement activities can be found on the Evolve Housing website under What’s on.

If you have any suggestions for activities for future Imaginate programs, please call Terina on 0412 806 461 or email community@evolvehousing.com.au

West Ryde Launch

Evolve Housing in partnership with Homes NSW and developer Billbergia Group proudly launched our brand-new social housing complex in West Ryde.

This innovative $55-million development is made up of three residential apartment buildings comprising 150 units, including 30 for social housing tenants, each with accessible access, three levels of underground parking and quality landscaped outdoor spaces next to West Ryde train station.

Evolve Housing is pleased to be managing the social housing tower which comprises eight onebedroom units, six of which are adaptable, and 22 two-bedroom units, on behalf of Homes NSW on a 20-year lease.

These apartments are designed to offer comfort, support, and a fresh start to individuals and families seeking affordable homes in a thriving community in Sydney’s north-west.

VIVID

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS AND Dinner Cruise

It’s FREE

Join Evolve Housing on a Sydney Harbour cruise during Vivid, the largest festival of light, music, and ideas in the southern hemisphere.

Thursday 6th June 2024 departs at 6pm to return by 7:30pm

• One complimentary drink on arrival (soft drink or juice)

• Fresh, hot assisted service buffet dinner (vegetarian and vegan dishes available)

• 1.5hr cruise to view the world-famous landmarks, the Harbour Bridge and Opera House

• Indoor and outdoor seating options (we do not reserve seating)

• Endless views and photo opportunities of the Vivid light festival

You are welcome to join in this FREE event

NOTE: All private charters have some restricted access for wheelchair and mobility access due to internal stairs to access toilets. There are limited tickets available, RSVP’s open from April 30 on our What’s On Page

Some fun-filled activities for children and young people during the 3rd and 4th week of April 2024 school holidays!

There will be food provided and prizes to be won! Keep an eye out via the Evolve Housing What’s On page: bit.ly/eh-whatson

KICKS BOWLING

PARRAMATTA EVENT

Event: Imaginate Kicks Bowling

Activity: Bowling, Arcades, XD ride

Date: Tuesday 16th April 2023

Time: 12.30pm – 2.30pm

Location: Kicks Bowling in the Parramatta Leagues Club

1 Eels Place, Parramatta 2150

Crafty Kids

FREE event run EXCLUSIVELY for children & parents of EVOLVE HOUSING

RIVERWOOD EVENT

Event: Imaginate Crafty Kids

Activity: Craft activities with stuff that you can take home with you!

Date: Tuesday 23rd April 2024

Time: 10.30am – 1.30pm

Location: Riverwood Community Hub

80 Kentucky Rd, Riverwood 2210

Corner Washington Avenue

WIN Hawkesbury Show tickets

To keep the family entertained during the April school holidays we will be holding a Find-A-Word competition with 2 x Family passes to the Hawkesbury Show!

THE PRIZE:

We have two prizes to give away. Each winner will get a family pass for two adults and two children (5-17 years) to attend the Hawkesbury Show between 19th – 21st April 2024.

HOW TO ENTER:

Locate the listed words in the find-a-word that are shown horizontally, vertically and diagonally correctly. Once completed, take a photo and send the photo by SMS to Terina on 0412 806 461. Use the subject line “Hawkesbury Show”. Please include your full name, address and phone number.

All correct entries will go into the running to win, then we will draw two winners randomly.

Please note: you must be an Evolve Housing resident to enter. Entries close midday Monday 8th April 2024, and we will contact the winners directly.

Money Minded

2024

If you’re struggling to pay down your credit card debt, find it tough to stretch your income to cover all expenses, want to buy a car or plan for a holiday, these workshops will help you manage your money. These money management workshops will help you create a budget, reduce your debt and start saving.

Workshop 1 Bankstown

Date: Wednesday 8th May 2024

Time: 10am–12pm

Location: Community room

42–44 Leonard Street, Bankstown

Workshop 2 Parramatta

Date: Wednesday 24th July 2024

Time: 10am–12pm

Location: Yellamundie room, Evolve Housing office 9 Argyle Street, Parramatta

RAG spotlight

SydWest Multicultural Services

Youth programs designed for multicultural youth from a refugee or migrant background between 12–25 years of age, who have been in Australia for less than 5 years and live in the Blacktown and Penrith LGAs. Youth SydWest Multicultural Services: www.sydwestms.org.au

Hope Connect

A service that works alongside you in finding out what your hopes are for you and your family. We can connect you with other services to find the support for your journey. We see ourselves as a very interested support team, who values hearing from you in setting the direction for our work together.  www.hopeconnect.org.au/how_we_can_help/what-we-offer

PCYC

A charity that offers a range of life changing sports and activities for young people in Australia. www.pcycnsw.org.au/

Ask Izzy

Ask Izzy is an online website that connects people in need with housing, a meal, money help, health and wellbeing services, family violence support and counselling.

Ask Izzy can connect you with government-funded advocacy agencies and support services any time of day. If you need some extra assistance, we encourage you to look at the Ask Izzy website to find a service that could help. www.askizzy.org.au

Stray Animals

Stray and wild animals have been reported at several of our properties, in particular pigeons and cats. These animals are often infested with fleas, mites and diseases and bring other pests with them such as mice and cockroaches.

If you feed a stray animal constantly, it will become dependent on you leaving food out for them and attract other animals. This can also cause aggressive behaviour between the animals, increased breeding, the spread of diseases and damage to your property. Evolve Housing discourages feeding stray animals as this also impacts other residents.

If you have any concerns, please call us on 1800 693 865.

Would you like to volunteer for the Friendship Aged Network?

We are looking for volunteers to make weekly phone calls to tenants over 55 years of age primarily living alone or socially isolated for our Friendship Aged Network. Volunteers will receive training to prepare for phone calls. Our community engagement team will run an information session for anybody interested in finding out more about becoming a volunteer.

Information session

Date: Thursday 18th April 2024

Time: 10.30am–11.30am

Location: Yellamundie room, Evolve Housing office

9 Argyle Street, Parramatta 2150)

Financial Assistance grants

Did you know we provide financial assistance grants to our residents?

KEY grants: supports adults with educational expenses who are looking to or are currently completing tertiary education such as TAFE or university.

Highschool Help: supports high school students with educational expenses that attend high school.

GO grants: supports children with expenses related to physical or cultural activities.

For more information, contact our Community Development Officer, Terina on 0412 806 461, or email community@evolvehousing.com.au

Student School Broadband Initiative

Do you have a school aged child and have no internet access at home? To be eligible, a family must:

• Have a child living at home that is enrolled in an Australian school.

• Have no active broadband service over the NBN network.

• Live in a premise where they can access a standard NBN service.

• Not have had an active NBN service during the previous 14 days.

If you’re an Evolve Housing tenant & you meet the eligibility criteria, please complete the form by scanning the QR code.

*Please note previous applicants do not need to reapply.

HOW TO LODGE AN APPEAL

If you are unhappy about a decision made about your tenancy you can lodge an appeal within three months from the date of the original decision. To lodge an appeal, please fill out our Appeals form on our website http://bit.ly/AppealEvolve-Housing or by contacting our office on 1800 693 865