Meet the organisation furnishing vacant homes for domestic abuse survivors

Worthy Australia are the well-deserving winners of the Community Volunteer Organisation of the Year Award for their incredible work helping women and children facing homelessness caused by domestic violence. Through their primary Safe Haven program, Worthy Australia turns empty houses into fully furnished homes for their clients, who are referred to them from frontline domestic violence crisis services.

The organisation was founded by Jennifer Ball, who found a gap in the post-crisis phase of support in the domestic violence sector. “Once a woman and her children need to leave refuge, there is no support to rebuild their lives,” said Jennifer. “I was determined that my charity organisation would provide all of the items necessary in a home, but it would also be beautiful. It would be tailored to each individual client; it would instil pride and dignity and self-worth.

“It took months of planning and relationship building with sector heads in the domestic violence sector. You can’t just decide to start a charity and expect refuges to hand their clients over to you. I had to prove that I understood the nuances and challenges of the sector, that I understood and took seriously the confidentiality and safety concerns. I had to prove that I had a model that would work alongside the refuges, providing them assistance as well as their clients. After a year, we received our first safe haven referral… And they haven’t stopped coming in since.”

Each Safe Haven is fully set up with gifted furniture and other belongings, taking into consideration the family’s needs and preferences. However, the Safe Havens go beyond their physical properties. The homes provide families with safety, comfort, hope and the promise that they can rebuild their lives again after the trauma they’ve suffered.

Jennifer has had many emotional moments that have stayed with her. “I think for me the most emotional was one of our first safe havens. Our client and her two small children had already been living at a property for a month after leaving refuge. They had no support to furnish the house but if they didn’t stay there, they would have been on the street. We received the referral and attended the home. What we saw was truly heartbreaking, and as a mother, my heart dropped. This mum and her children had been sleeping on the floor… Instead of a fridge, was a small esky with long life milk in it. Next to the esky were two small lunch boxes with remnants of cereal in them. Mum couldn’t afford bowls, so she would reuse the children’s lunchboxes during meal times.

“We created a home for this little family. When we presented her home to her, we cried together. She broke down when she saw the beautifully made beds for her children, a gorgeous bedroom of her own, a fridge and freezer…. bowls for the cereal… and every other item you can think of to make a home a home. I knew the safe haven program was needed and important before I met this family, but afterwards it really drove home that this program was vital.”

“We do our best to provide a safe and welcoming environment for our volunteers,” said Jennifer, “There are so many different ways to volunteer and contribute. Whether it’s physically setting up the safe havens, helping us collect and store donations, attending events on our behalf, fundraising, etc. We’ve always got jobs to keep people busy and we make a point to work with everyone’s strengths to ensure that everyone gets to make an impact that works for them.”

Though the impact of Worthy Australia’s efforts is difficult to summarise, it can be seen in the care taken in assembling every Safe Haven, the face of every child stepping into their new bedroom, and the relief felt by a mother who can leave a violent relationship safely behind them.