Responding to COVID-19
Too many families in our community already deal with the daily hardship of poverty and disadvantage. The COVID-19 crisis, however, has significantly increased the challenges, pushing countless people into further economic insecurity and distress.
At BSL, we have worked hard during this pandemic to meet the increased demand for our services. We changed our service delivery approaches to enable continued access; we worked to ensure the safety of our people and the people we serve; we expanded our work to support the wider pandemic response.
We have also actively continued to use our strength in research to advocate for the systemic change needed to address poverty and help Australia recover from the COVD-19 crisis.
In the 2021 financial year, we responded to COVID-19 by doing the following…
BSL joined forces with the Red Cross to support people who were most impacted by the pandemic.
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Our employment services adapted their service delivery to meet both the needs of participants and the employment market.
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Through the state government’s Working for Victoria Initiative we employed 102 jobseekers and increased our capacity to deliver services to the community.
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We supported people experiencing homelessness with chronic health issues by providing a welcoming and safe environment.
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We continued to support people during the lockdown by engaging virtually and assisted tenants in social housing affected by Melbourne’s hard lockdown.
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By amplifying the voices of the people we serve, our research placed a spotlight on the challenges faced by those experiencing disadvantage.
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We advanced our long-term advocacy agenda for a fairer social security system through targeted research, policy and campaigning.
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Our volunteers showed great resilience during the pandemic as they continued to serve the community.
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Our op shop staff were significantly impacted, but many found new ways to contribute.
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