Our collective commitment

Andrew Cairns CEO

We are a homelessness organisation specialising in housing solutions, entrusted, obligated, and expected to be in a position to provide people with outcomes around hope, care and help.

In this past year we have offered support for vulnerable Victorians whose livelihoods were under dramatic change; a context where a sense of control and certainty had been lost.

At the same time, our staff have experienced undue pressures and their own personal upheavals within the pandemic.

The manner in which our staff and the communities in which we operate continue to collaborate to provide support services and housing solutions for a varied set of needs and expectations within their respective communities has inspired me greatly.

And this inspiration has strengthened my belief in our ability to offer hope, care, and help where it is most needed.

Core to this ability is clarity around the foundations and pillars that enable us to deliver for our clients. For several years we have had clarity around the focus of more homes, more Supports through more Partnerships and more capacity. This is all within a mantra of focusing on outcomes over ownership and realising the greatness that can be achieved when working with like-minded and values-aligned partners to assist us in our focus on quality client experiences.

As I reflect on this year, the resilience of the organisation and the passion of the people within it, is at the forefront of my mind.

Collectively, there is a commitment to what we’re trying to achieve and a strong sense of belonging to something meaningful — to make sure we all take responsibility for the delivery of equity, equality, inclusion, and social justice. We know that experiencing poverty is the single biggest reason why people are experiencing homeless — and we also know that more people from different areas in our society are experiencing poverty for reasons never seen before.

This — unfortunately — sees the demand for services offered by HHS increasing. An unfortunate reality of our time and a challenge we are motivated to meet head on.

Mechanically, Haven Home Safe serves the community as a regulated affordable housing organisation that provides integrated services through a variety of support programs across the state of Victoria. As a trusted partner and provider, we need to ensure that not only do we deliver on the State Government's policy needs, the community’s strategic needs, but also the individual needs of the clients and customers which we serve.

Dynamically, HHS shows up by caring for the personal, emotional, and physical needs of the people who call us for help.

It is that selflessness and commitment of staff that inspires me, humbles me, and makes me exceptionally proud to be part of such an organisation.