Our 2022 AGM
On Thursday, 17 November 2022, Head Start Homes held its fifth Annual General Meeting via video conference. It was attended by our Members, Directors and staff from Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane; and hosted by our Chair, Vanessa Chan and our Founder, Stephen Woodlands.
Vanessa welcomed guests and spoke of success in 2022:
“Head Start Homes’ reputation as an innovator, deliverer of high quality and value community outcomes and as a critical industry advocate and disrupter, has been reflected in the receipt of significant funds this year. Of note is the ongoing financial support from our Founding Partner Westpac, the award of $100,000 from Impact Investing Australia to support the design of our Equity+ model; $110,000 from Lendlease towards our recycling Guarantees; $50,000 from the Snow Foundation; and $1.3m from Wollongong City Council to establish its first recycling home ownership program.”
Vanessa also thanked our whole community for the pivotal role they play at HSH:
“It is a privilege to Chair this dynamic social enterprise as we work together towards innovative solutions to homelessness, housing security and affordability, and I extend my thanks to our Directors, staff and volunteers who never cease to bring their passion, dedication and creativity to our work.”
Stephen spoke of the unique Head Start Homes, home ownership model.
“Since commencing our operations in late 2020, we’ve helped more than 70 people with our empowerment services and helped six households buy their own home, freeing up an additional six social and affordable homes. We pride ourselves on being agile and innovative and always putting our clients at the centre of everything we do. This has led to an added focus and understanding of the crucial importance of our Empowerment Services, including our Head Start Savings Plans, which support our clients to become mortgage and homeowner ready.“We pride ourselves on having a fabulous community of like-minded individuals who are committed to making Australia a more equitable place to live. We pay special thanks to our fabulous Board, volunteers and the 100-plus organisations who have supported us since our inception.”
“This includes our Founding Partner Westpac, the Aboriginal Housing Office, the Wollongong Council, Lendlease, Impact Investing Australia, the Department of Social Services, the Snow Foundation, the NSW Government, NielsenIQ, Invia and Coates for providing essential grant funding; and Community Housing Ltd, The Housing Trust for being referral partners.” 🤝🙌
We also provide a special thanks to:
Directors Richard Yong and Joel Larsen for sharing their own personal heart-warming stories as to the impact Stephen’s Woodlands vision for HSH has had on them and why they are a part of the Head Start Homes community .
Siobhan Twomey for sharing her learnings and experience as one of our 2022 Board Observers.
Jo Formosa for providing an overview as our new HomeOwnership Success Executive as to how we are directly assisting to empower our clients’ lives. This included direct accounts from clients and the video launch of Chontell’s home ownership story with HSH. With special thanks to both Chontell and AHO for allowing Head Start Homes to launch this heart felt video.
Vanessa Chan, HSH Chair
Stephen Woodland, Founder and Managing Director