CHL updates

REFLECTING ON SORRY DAY

National Sorry Day is held on May 26th and marks the day that the landmark ‘Bringing them Home’ report was tabled in Federal parliament in 1997. It is a time to remember the past policies of forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and listen, learn, and feel the painful stories of the Stolen Generations. It is also the time to recognise the resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the power of saying sorry. At the Kempsey office, the Community Housing Limited (CHL) team acknowledged and reflected on the sad and painful stories of the Stolen Generation. Respected local Elders joined in creating a beautiful ‘Sorry Day’ artwork and a morning tea. “It was a very special, warm connecting, almost a family atmosphere during our morning tea. We reflected on the sadness of why we were together,” said Kempsey Customer Service Officer, Christine Oram-Fuller.

JOURNEY TOWARDS RECONCILIATION

National Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3 June) is a time for everyone to learn about Australia’s history, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how every one of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation. 2021 marks twenty years of Reconciliation Australia and almost three decades of Australia’s formal reconciliation process. Reconciliation is a journey for all of us to take, individually, in family or friendship groups, communities and at work. More importantly at the heart of this journey is building and fostering relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures. On a mission to provide better housing options for Aboriginal communities across the country, Aboriginal Community Housing Limited (ACHL), part of the CHL Group, has appointed two proud Indigenous women to oversee the delivery of ACHL’s strategic objectives. CHL group has welcomed Stacey Broadbent as the National Manager and Cheryl Axleby as the South Australian Relationship Manager for Australia’s first independent national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led and managed community housing provider, ACHL. We recently launched our brand new ACHL website to be easy to use and navigable, and an excellent resource that caters to the needs of our tenants, partners, and community. The new website is complete with a visually appealing design, using traditional earth colours. The artwork has been exclusively created by Indigenous artist Ngarrindjeri man, Jordan Lovegrove and the website has been developed by Aboriginal agency, Dreamtime. Visit the ACHL website at www.achl.org.au. Read more stories within to find out how some of our states’ journeys towards reconciliation is going as well as other activities.

IMPACT GRANTS PROGRAM

At CHL/ACHL, we want to help as many people as we can to achieve their dreams and goals. That is why we are excited to share our Impact Grants Program that will launch later this year. The best news is that this opportunity is available to all our customers across the country! Whether it is a TAFE course, a gym membership, art classes, driving lessons or a community event, there is an opportunity for you and your community. There are three categories: Education and Employment – provides up to $1,500 to encourage a wide range of educational and employment opportunities. Social Connection – provides up to $300 funding towards health and wellbeing pursuits, such as sporting and fitness activities, arts and craft or music. It also includes anything that may enable inclusion, such as a car licence. Community – provides grants up to $2,000 to community organisations, support agencies or collective groups of CHL tenants for community projects. For further information on when and how to apply, please do one of the following: • Contact our contact centre on 1300 CHL HOUSING (1300 245 468) • Email us at impactgrants@chl.org.au • Contact your local Housing Officer or

Community Development Officer • Visit the ‘Apply for Grants’ page on the CHL and ACHL websites.

CHL LAUNCHES A NEW WAY OF MEASURING SOCIAL IMPACT

Community Housing Ltd (CHL) has launched the first of its kind framework to measure the impact of safe, affordable, suitable, and quality housing on people’s lives. Developed over a two-year period with broad customer consultation, CHL’s Social Impact Framework aims to help us better understand and the change that is experienced by customers and communities, where CHL provides housing. Managing Director of the CHL Group, Steve Bevington said, “CHL is embarking on this exciting long-term journey towards creating an organisation that is impact-led. “Understanding where change is occurring gives us a powerful insight into how housing creates a long-term impact on people’s lives and their communities. Gaining this understanding will help us improve our services, set national strategic and development directions and provide valuable information to our partners”. As part of this project, CHL has sent you a survey. The survey will include questions on the changes experienced by customers since living in our housing, and how these changes impact on your health, economic participation, social connection, livability, education, and empowerment. Roll out of our first national survey will enable us to test our approach with our customers and other stakeholders. Over the next few years, we will continue to adapt our framework as we better understand where change is taking place and make informed decisions that will improve the overall wellbeing of our customers.