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Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Did ‘uncertain’ charity get a $90k grant?

YOUTHCARE Canberra today received $90,000 from the Franklin Charity House project, despite uncertainty around whether the unique support service for young, homeless people in the ACT is even operating, at least under its current arrangements.

The small social-work charity has been funded by donations for about 20 years, and managed by the large umbrella organisation Communities@Work since 2011.

Over recent days “CityNews” has established that the YouthCARE page was taken down from the organisation’s website some time in the last few weeks, a few months after it was anonymously suggested to “CityNews” that Communities@Work no longer wanted to run YouthCARE Canberra, and its only field youth worker no longer works for the organisation.

“We are currently drafting a media release for next week around our youth services,” Communities@Work’s director of communications, Chris Barrie, told “CityNews” in response to direct questions about the service’s status and future.

It is not known why the web page was taken down, as Communities@Work has refused to answer any questions about whether the decision has been made to cease its management of YouthCARE or shut the service down, despite being given several opportunities to set the record straight.

Mr Barrie did not say whether next week’s press release would answer the simple questions put to him by “CityNews” about whether the organisation wants keep YouthCARE going.

Communities@Work has not replied to further emails and voicemail messages.

The $90,000 from the Franklin Charity House project was intended to fund a female social worker as well as emergency assistance, and basic living essentials for street kids.

The homeless youth support service was previously known as Open Family ACT, before being relaunched as YouthCARE in August 2011, managed by Communities@Work, with fundraising managed by a committee called Supporting Canberra’s Street Kids Limited.

More than $580,000 was today presented by the Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, to five local charities from the proceeds of the sale of the Franklin Charity House, a joint project between the ACT Government’s Land Development Agency, the Master Builders Association (MBA) of the ACT and many Canberra businesses.

This story has been updated at http://wp.me/p1sjY1-ekF

 

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