Share your stories!

Have you volunteered for shelters or soup kitchens before? Gone that one step further to help a homeless person on the street? If so, we'd love to hear your stories. 

Your stories will give further insight into the uneasy circumstances these people have to deal with and will hopefully gain further awareness by other people in our community! 

Go ahead, let others recognise what these people go through! 

Great Alliances

Recent market conditions have left people (even with minimum wage jobs) left to fend for themselves on the streets, having comfort in the fact that a variety of soup kitchen scattered across Melbourne will supply food for them. But this isn’t enough! Everyone should have a warm bed to sleep, especially come wintertime.

The streets aren’t always safe at night, especially with drunken violence on weekends and theft.  Temporary stay places are increasingly over capacitated and with this trend of homelessness and rental market drama it’s only going to get worse. Action must be taken now!  

Minimum wage jobs can still not be enough to help ensure people have a place to stay! They can fall short on rent repayments and end up being blacklisted or just simply cannot afford to even rent. Humans make mistake and for some, they spend their whole life making up for them.

With all the hard work soup kitchens put in, we want to create an arrangement with them to help source potential people to come stay and grow with us.  These soup kitchens make thousands of meals every year and we want to thank them by helping out their desperate loyal followers.

Do you know someone struggling?
Do you know anyone who needs a second chance?
Do you know of any soup kitchens that we could help find people at?
Do you have any other places we should know about?

Help us go Viral!

Social media is a venue for enjoyment and interaction.  It isn't designed for generating great revenue figures however it is great to start conversation and spread the word, which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks

Going viral has many benefits and it doesn't just help those who are extending their branding. In other words larger companies that is already established and looking to change their image.

Most importantly it will help Homeless cafe as a new organisation coming, to start up and become known on the world of the web. People won’t know what we are all about and recognize our contribution and importance to society which is why we need new people to come share and check us out. Whether it is simply by word of mouth, seeing our logo, or media channels such as the news YouTube and Google searches.

This is why we need your help to spread the word and give Homeless cafe a shout out, any guidance and help is much appreciated as we are not just a cafe  we are striving to better the community and help those homeless who are willing to better themselves for the future.

To help us out we need you, if anyone has any ideas on the best ways to go viral and spread the word, which may provide for some help please comment below.

Event Programs

Events allow for many that are experiencing the same issues to interact and build relationships and connections to work as groups to combat issues that as an individual may not be achievable. Programs set in place to create and run these events are common.

If you use A.A.( Alcohol Anonymous)  as an example of those with the same problem get together sharing and learning as a group in a circle. Creating a network of people which help support individuals in the group to fight there problem or issue.

We hope to run small local gatherings and events targeting homeless youth, old, families or those alone. We would create incentives, in the form of food and drink to attract homeless to our events and gathering. We would get specialists to approach them and found how we will help them. 

Considering the emotional , physical and financial benefits of such events. We could use them to create a community of groups that cluster together to create one cohesive unit that combats the issue of homelessness , which is made up of many different factors which is that they have no work , they have no direction, they have no vision of the future.

what type of events would you consider appropriate for such a cause? 

Mentoring

One of the ways we hope to achieve our goal as a social business is to mentor homeless individuals, giving them guidance and direction. It’s a strategy that has been used at different age levels and different situations. Mentoring provides a structured and trusting relationship. Mentoring bring people together with caring individuals who offer guidance, support and encouragement. 

I was introduced to an amazing individual, Heather Yelland. She is a leading emotional enterprise specialist. Heather is the founder of Yelland Enterprise Pty Ltd, the founder of Abundant Business Concepts and the director of SuperCamp Australia. Her work helps those within businesses or life to work productively by focusing on building on their emotional productivity. 

For some time she has been mentoring an acquaintance of mine, Julian Kozijevic. They have consulting seasons where he talks about where he is going in his life and if he has set new goals or accomplished any goals. Heather guides him to achieve what he is capable off. 

This is what we want to do with our homeless, we want to guide them to see their potential, for them to realise that they can create relationships, build life long bonds and accomplish goals and mean something in the world. We want to help build their life again to give them a chance to accomplish goals that they set on their own by giving them a kick start.

Do you know of a similar social business which helps people like this? 

Guerrilla Marketing Campaign: Help us come up with a shocking marketing campaign for the homeless.

The guerilla Marketing technique has been used my many business. This type of marketing involves campaigns that are generally unexpected and unconventional in places that customers will totally not expect. This method of marketing is more cost effective and provides the business with the opportunity to create a big buzz in the community. Guerrilla marketing campaigns may have certain features. These could include: humour, Shocking messages, and absurdity. The reason for guerrilla marketing is to create a new and unique campaign that engages people and probes them to think about the message your trying to express that in turn creates a big buzz. When looking at homelessness other companies have used this method of marketing to send out their message and to create a buzz. We would like to ask you to help us come up with an idea for a Guerrilla Campaign to help spread our message. Author: Brooke

Suppliers. Where are you?

Customers are definantly one of the new age mantras of today’s business, “customer knows best” and “customer is always right.”

However have we forgotten about the suppliers? they are the ones who meet those qualities to satisfy the customers. As demands from customers continue to evolve, the role of a supplier has to change in accord to this. We are in the search for a supplier who is all for a positive outlook on society.

So in saying so we need someone at the Homeless café to be our local supplier. One who has timely deliveries of suppliers and meets those last minute deadlines, in other words no delayed supplies and constant supply when demanded. Can provide the quality assurance deserved and keep the supplies at reasonable pricing.

Is this you? If so, we need you on board.

Social Entrepreneurs, What drives them?

Your typical entrepreneurs (Business related) measure their profits in terms of the business returns. However we see social entrepreneurs also taking into consideration and action a positive return and outlook to society. Furthering broad social, cultural, and environmental goals making them commonly associated with the voluntary and not for profit sectors. What drives us? The need for innovation, creation, curiosity to enable improvement and have a positive outlook in society. The need to want to challenge the status quo and come up with new ideas, benefiting the business and society as a whole.

At homeless café, we don’t just serve coffee and bread, we adopt the homeless as one of our own lifting them off the ground and putting them in a position to better their future, in saying so we don’t just spoon feed them but give them opportunities whether it be skills, stability shelter and money (which is all worked for). In saying so if we can pull this off as social entrepreneurs we can definantly hold our heads high and say that we are creating a more positive outlook on society,  

Food Bloggers: We Need You!

An integral part of the marketing scheme for our homeless cafe is food bloggers. Food bloggers are an excellent source of public exposure and honest critiquing. 

By buying and judging our food compared to other cafes, you will make us a better cafe; we want your feedback on what you liked, didn't like, and loved in order to make future visits more enjoyable.

Our aim is to provide high quality food and service, and a great atmosphere; therefore, we need your help! We'd like to know if there's any particular foods/dishes you'd like to see in our cafe - an extensive vegan or gluten free menu? Food bloggers are just the people we need to answer these questions and more!

Doing good or doing well?

A common misconception is that by giving someone what they need, they will have a better life or be a better person.

Have you walked past a homeless person on the street and thrown some coins down or even given them some food? Walking away did you feel like you’ve done a good deed? In doing so, you’re “doing good”, but there is alternative ways to help that are more effective.

Whilst giving the homeless your spare coins or buying them a cheeseburger so they eat for the day, might appear to be helping and ‘doing good’, gestures like these don’t elicit change in the homeless behaviour or life. These gestures only lead to short-term happiness and rewards.
To create long-term success for these individuals, they need to change their way of life. By provoking a change in behaviour we aim to effectively do well and do good.
Thus, as social entrepreneurs we recognise that in order for people to change, we must help create that change.

Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he is set for life 

The first part of this quote, refers to people that just simply “do good”, whereas the second part relates to those who do good, by “doing well”.

At the Homeless Café, we don’t give the homeless free money or free food. Instead, we give them valuable skills to obtain future employment, we give them stability, we give them shelter, we make them work for their food, we make them work for their money, we make them work towards better lives. 

Measuring performance is based upon the change we create. The ability to operate a successful business whilst also maintaining our ability to house the homeless is a major challenge. But if we can manage to do both, then as social entrepreneurs, we have partially completed our goals. The movement our café creates is how our performance will be measured, if the homeless people we try to help, don’t turn their life around or the business doesn’t make a profit we cannot do well or do good.   

Have you got any suggestions that will help us do well? 

Paying it Forward

The concept of suspended coffees has started to take hold in Melbourne. We want to follow the footsteps of such cafes such as The Mission Cafe in Prahran one of the first to jump on board with this idea which originated in Naples. We believe this movement will integrate less fortunate individuals back into a more general social setting after years of exclusion. Mission Cafe raised a staggering  120 suspended coffees in just the first 10 days of doing this , they began just last Month in April. 

A suspended coffee is not a meal or a shelter for the night, but Homeless Cafe hopes to work with other Cafes and organisations to reach a larger amount of the homeless and less fortunate, to  expand on this concept of humility and generosity, to create shelter and food and also lead people on a journey back to a better life.

Do you have what it takes to give?

To our valued customers.

Hey you, yes YOU!

We need YOU!

You're important to us! Your opinions matter to us!

We're open to feedback, and therefore we'd love to hear from you!

Trial and error is a major factor in entrepreneurial success. We admit we cant get everything right all the time, but we are sure willing to try the best we can; as everyone should. Granted we've developed our idea through very in depth analysis however times change and so do trends, therefore we invite you, our valued customers, to come discover the Homeless Cafe.

By asking for your suggestions, it can better help us, give you what you want, whilst also continuing with our mission; to help the homeless.

As our loyal customers, we want to ensure that we give you the best possible service we can. The homeless are on the path to a better life so they are willing to learn and so are we.
If you have something vital for us to know, that will help the homeless and our café grow, please don’t hesitate to let us know. 
What food would you like to see us make? 
What sort of atmosphere would you like to be in? 
What sort of drinks do you love that we don't offer?

In order for us to help the homeless rebuild their lives, we need to keep the cafe successful and to ensure that happens we recognize that YOU are one of the most important factors in our development.

Help us, to help you.

Our Story

Homelessness is on the rise in our society and it is important that our country does something about this problem. The aim is to provide homeless people with the right tools and support to be able to get their lives back on track and into stable jobs and housing.

This business involves a 3 month homeless rehabilitation program by which homeless people will be employed to work at the café and will also be granted to stay in the residential area above the cafe. For this program homeless people will be sourced from local food kitchens through recommendations made by the staff at these food kitchens. The employees will be trained with the appropriate skills to run the day to day operations of the café with the guidance of mentors. The program will have strict guidelines and boundaries for all employees to follow; including a zero drug and alcohol 1 strike you’re out policy.

At the end of the 3 month program they will receive a certificate of completion and will be able to post their story on the story wall which will act as motivation for future employees and will be able to be seen by the customers as well. The employees that complete the program will also be guided into other jobs within the hospitality sector and also will be helped to source housing.The business will generate money through trade in the selling of food and beverages and also donations through the online website. 

At the end of the 3 month program they will receive a certificate of completion and will be able to post their story on the story wall which will act as motivation for future employees and will be able to be seen by the customers as well. The employees that complete the program will also be guided into other jobs within the hospitality sector and also will be helped to source housing.The business will generate money through trade in the selling of food and beverages and also donations through the online website. 

We have created a one of a kind program that rehabilitates homeless Australians providing them with 360 degree support that has never been seen before. We wish to give hope, inspiration and motivation to homeless Australians and hope to lead the change for others to follow.

Do your bit for society and get involved.

Fundraising

The more we understand the importance of helping people to achieve a better self. The more we see the struggles and effort existing methods/organisations go, to combat the issue of homelessness. How do they attain there funds?

I’d like to share how far one individual goes to help people in Kenya. I first heard about Father Themi back in high school, he was the older brother of the Primary school Principle Mary Adams. He came back to Australia once maybe twice a year hosting fundraisers where people donate towards his missionary in Kenya. He has built a Church and now has started to gather the funds to build other essential buildings and utilities which we take for granted.

There were many hardships and problems along the way, from war to famine.  He fought through and continues to help people that don’t have the basic things to live. 

The question is  how will we Fundraise to help homeless people?

Social Business

A few weeks back I personally attended a graduation of teenagers that had just finished a 1 week program called SuperCamp, where children which were struggling to fit in, finding classes difficult, trying to work out what they are good at or ok and just wanted to increase your grades attended.

Over this week they formed teams where individual children could become closer to their team leaders and members, whilst being taught specific methods to combat problems in everyday life. Do you think that such programs are important, consider there implications and affect they have? 

Many of these methods can be used in many different situations. The graduation showed the extent that the camp had on children's confidence and the impact it would have on their lives and what they had accomplished. All the children were sad to leave and it was of big importance to them.