Australian Private Capital was delighted to bring on the Lighthouse Foundation as our most recent APC Partner just before the COVID pandemic arrived.  One of APC’s corporate values is to Give back as we prosper  and the Lighthouse Foundation is a wonderful way for us to do that.

The Lighthouse Foundation provides homeless young people from backgrounds of long-term neglect and abuse, with a home, a sense of family, and around-the-clock therapeutic care that is individually tailored, trauma informed and proven to work. Through their Lighthouse experience, young people can heal, learn again to relate to others and start to rebuild their lives. APC has recently begun our partnership with Lighthouse Foundation. Here is a short two minute sketch video about Lighhouse.

Here is a message from the Foundation which we wanted to share with you.

A message from the Lighthouse Foundation

Right now, there are hundreds of homeless young parents, babies and pregnant women in Australia that desperately need our support.  We’re talking about girls near you, from Coburg to Richmond, and right through to Bonbeach – this is happening on our very own doorstep.

Many of these young parents were forced to flee violent and abusive homes and have been repeatably told throughout their short painful lives “You don’t belong.  You’re useless.  You’re not good enough”.  Sadly, when a young person hears that over and over again, they begin to feel unworthy and invisible – like lone puzzle pieces that don’t ‘fit in’ or belong anywhere in this world.

The support the Foundation receives allows for us to attend to the immediate needs of these little families and gives us the chance to show them that their dreams, hopes and lives truly matter. This support lets us show girls like Bianca, whose story we reflect on below, that they are capable and worthy of being loved and helps us to stop the next generation of homelessness.

Our young people need help more than ever throughout this difficult time.  Just like a puzzle is put together piece by piece, we wouldn’t be able to rebuild these young lives without the vital contributions we receive from our donors.

Bianca’s Story

Lighthouse’s Young Parents and Babies’ program was devised by our Patron, Vicki Vidor OAM, to fulfil the vision to help vulnerable homeless young women and their babies – giving them the therapeutic care & practical support needed to secure a brighter and more sustainable future.  This is the story our young mum, Bianca, who transitioned into independent living.

Imagine being 20-years-old, 38 weeks pregnant and homeless. It seems unimaginable that a young woman in Australia could find herself in such a vulnerable position, but that was true for Bianca.

After years of struggling with substance abuse, Bianca had completed a rehabilitation program to try and prepare herself for motherhood – but with nowhere to call home or social supports available to her, both of their futures were at serious risk.

Thankfully Bianca was referred to Lighthouse and warmly welcomed into our young parents and babies’ program.  It was tough at first, she admits, “learning to live with structure and allowing someone else to care for me was hard”, but for the first time, in a long time, she was safe.

Bianca slowly adapted to her new life at Lighthouse, and after giving birth to her baby boy, Kaylan, embraced the wraparound support provided by her carers and psychologists.  Every single day, their thoughtful and predictable engagement with Bianca helped to repair her shattered world view – proving that genuine, healthy and trustworthy relationships were possible.

After twelve months at Lighthouse, Bianca had developed a strong attachment with baby Kaylan and learnt the vital parenting skills needed to take care of him and most importantly, herself.  Having now left the program and transitioned into independent living, Bianca is hopeful for the future and has plans to complete her VCAL and enroll in a Bachelor of Nursing.

We couldn’t be more proud of this young Mum and what she has achieved over the past year.  Little Kaylan is lucky to have such a strong role-model in his life and both of them will always have a place to call home here at Lighthouse as a part of our ‘On For Life’ promise.

The next step

In a beautiful collaboration, Lighthouse has teamed up with iconic artists Ken Done & Cassie Byrnes to produce ta deluxe two-in-one Jigsaw Puzzle by Journey of Something.

This gift is the ‘gift that keeps on giving’, with all proceeds helping Lighthouse to support kids impacted by abuse, neglect and homelessness in Australia.  Australian Private Capital will be purchasing one for each member of our team.

If you would like to enquire or make your order so you too can support the Lighthouse Foundation, simply email [email protected] or call 03 9093 7500.