OPEN Rapid Case Study: home.plate Hospitality Training Program – For Change Co.

“I was facing a lot because I couldn’t find a job. So getting a job helped me be happier.

– TRAINEE

For Change Co. founders wanted to work towards ending youth homelessness by supporting young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Australia. They recognised that at-risk young people do not have the same education, employment or support opportunities, as they experienced from their family and community.

Initially, For Change Co. was working with a profit-to-donation model, where the profits of their sales from crêpes and coffee were donated to organisations working with young people experiencing homelessness. Developing from this, For Change Co. established a partnership with Launch Housing to create home.plate. The program started in an initially ad-hoc way and focussed on supporting young people build skills and become education and/or work ready, along with supporting young people to enter the rental market and create pathways out of youth homelessness.

The young people involved in the program come from diverse cultural backgrounds and have complex needs. For Change Co. provides access to training and upskilling to their trainers/staff, through organisations like the Centre for Multicultural Youth. This training enables staff to build the skills and offer tailored support to such diverse young people.

“Once I started working at For Change Co., I had more experience on my resume. It helped me get a job.”

– TRAINEE

• Stable housing is essential to engage at-risk young people — When the home.plate program started, it obtained referrals to young people who did not have stable housing through a youth housing provider. However, For Change Co. did not have enough resources to provide support to such young people. As a result, some young people who started initially could not participate consistently and were not able to complete the program. In response, For Change Co. adjust the program to require that young people applying for participation needed to have engaged with a housing organisation and have stable housing.
  
• Partnerships with other agencies provides a systems-based approach — For Change Co. has developed partnerships with Launch Housing and Melbourne City Mission to ensure their participants have access to the vital wrap-around services which underpin their successful completion of the program.
  
• Appropriate payment and tailored support — The program provides industry standard payments for the young people’s work with Homeplate. This is vital to ensure that young people feel engaged, and their work valued and respected. Additionally, flexible, and individually tailored support is also provided to ensure that young people can pursue their individual goals during the program. After completion, graduates the support continues with referrals and preparations for job application and interviews.
  
• Clear expectations work well for the young people — The team also learnt that it was important to set clear expectations about a participant’s time in the program right from the start. Creating an expected standard regarding the young person’s engagement and behaviour, allows staff to support them to succeed and transition out of the program to further employment.
  
• Well-resourced and managed trainee cafés — For the program to succeed, the team also ensured that the café locations were well-supported and ran seamlessly. This includes making sure that program is well resourced, and staff are trained to provide a tailored learning experience to the participants.