Homegirls is a social enterprise that gives refugee and asylum seeker mums a sense of agency and social connectedness by creating collaborations with local designers to create statement earrings. We are launching a new product offering in the form of ‘make it at home’ earring care packages. These packages will assist in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in three ways;

1. Supporting local businesses by purchasing materials and tools for the care packages;

2. Supporting the Australian community by providing a creative outlet and relieve stress that may arise from social distancing and home isolation;

3. Ensuring the financial sustainability of our operations and providing our beneficiaries with continual income during this time, and the development of a novel product offering that will continue after this pandemic has ceased.

Halad to Health is an international NGO closing the gap in global health inequality through delivering accessible health education services. We do this through our affordable GAMSAT Tuition and Biomedicine Exam Revision Services. All funds raised from these services go to the Halad to Health Foundation Philippines, to give free health education to students in rural Philippines.

In Australia we run more affordable GAMSAT tuition services for students looking to study medicine and dentistry. Proceeds from our GAMSAT tuition services as of April 2020 will be temporarily diverted to support front-line healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Free to Feed delivers a number of food-oriented initiatives. We host authentic food experiences and workshops, we run events and provide catering.

Each month, the incredible kitchen and participant team at Free to Feed will be cooking a delicious rotating menu of nourishing, home-delivered BRAVE MEALS available for pick-up or local delivery on Wednesdays and Fridays. These meals have been conceived by our participants and chefs to nourish families in difficult times to help you bring your loved ones close. Meals made by Free to Feed are cooked with love to keep you in good health.

Goodie actively connects young volunteers with volunteering opportunities offered by nonprofits and social enterprises.

We are currently chatting to our charity partners who are assisting during this pandemic with food, mental health, housing and other services. We would be hoping to provide these charities with volunteers who can safely aid, including the possibility of aid from a remote-working arrangement.

This is still being discussed with the charity partners so if anyone knows of any charities, social enterprises or not-for-profit organisations that are requiring assistance, please let us know. Alternatively, if any of the other ygap cohorts and startups would like to put their hand up to volunteer and help out during this time, please let us know and we can aim to connect you with a charity partner in a safe and secure environment.

ARMCare provides disability support services under the NDIS to refugees and migrants with a refugee background in Brisbane, in a culturally-appropriate manner. We provide employment for former refugees, so that they can provide care for clients who speak the same language(s). Our services go beyond those funded by the NDIS by providing health care coordination, health advocacy, and social support to clients. We also help former refugees to access the NDIS and advocate for them so that they obtain quality plans and adequate funding. Our NDIS-funded Support Coordination service educates clients as to the services available, and enables them to implement their plans, receive their choice of supports, understand their rights, and make changes when necessary.

ARMCare continues to provide Support Coordination, disability supports to those whose needs are critical, advocacy for people needing NDIS plans, and social support for clients and their families.

Financially Empowered’s mission is to equip ALL women with skills to enable them to be financially literate, sustainable and independent. We empower women to manage their business or personal cashflow, set financial goals, and we provide CFO services to women in business. Financially Empowered also runs a ‘Money Matters for Migrants’ program to help remove the barriers that disenfranchised women face when it comes to dealing with finances.

We are launching a Financial Health Check service to help businesses navigate financial decisions they need to make in response to COVID-19. The check will include reviewing their current systems, cashflow management, cost savings, forecasting in uncertain times and understanding their breakeven point. To book your session email: admin@financiallyempowered.com.au

MoneyGirl is dedicated to improving the financial literacy of every young woman in Australia. MoneyGirl provides workshops covering multiple areas of money. From big financial decisions like investing and choosing financial advisors, right through to everyday budgeting, MoneyGirl provides everything you need to start on the right path. When you join the MoneyGirl community, you’ll be joining a sisterhood of smart, savvy and supportive young women to help you on your journey.

We host a weekly virtual MoneyHang for the community to share money concerns and knowledge. Together we figure out ways to support each other, and build our resilience to thrive during and after the pandemic.

We have live online chats with experts to answer the community’s questions about their money in relation to the pandemic which includes investing during a market down time, understanding the government stimulus package, and more.To stay in-the-know about what’s coming up next, join the MoneyGirl community here: https://www.moneygirl.co/individuals/#join-our-community

Just Peoples connects Australians with grassroots, locally-led micro-projects overseas. We connect people with a project that matches their values and support them to donate or fundraise and be the one to make it happen!

We are launching a range of Covid-19 response projects developed by our local project leaders to meet the needs in their communities as the pandemic unfolds, and reaching out to our supporters in Australia to fundraise for and donate towards these. See justpeoples.org/covid-19 for more details

Bring Me Home is a mobile app that connects people with nearby food retailers
that have surplus food to sell at a discount. Bring me Home is supporting their vendors and partners in the hospitality industry who have been hard-hit by the pandemic through:

1.Reduced commission
To help alleviate some financial pressure, we are cutting our commission by 5% from the start of April for 3 months, or until further notice.
2. Advertise takeout offers
Got all-day takeout meals and menu deals? You can now advertise them on the BMH app by creating a second listing.
3. Sell excess supplies & ingredients
If you are finding that non-perishables are going to waste and you are throwing away ingredients at the end of the day, you can list a “mystery box” of ingredients on the BMH app with a second listing.

At Qonfr, we facilitate connections between people with mental health challenges and companions (peer supporters) based on shared lived experiences. We do this by harnessing the lived experience of mental ill-health and recovery to support others going through similar challenges while fostering a sense of hope and understanding. Companions – traditionally called Peer supporters – provide support in the form of accompaniment, a shoulder to lean on, a sympathetic ear and friendly conversations. At a time of panic, anxiety and distress caused by the COVID-19, we are working towards creating purposeful connections that help alleviate the growing atmosphere of social isolation.

During such distressing and fast changing situations, we would like to focus on our purpose of eliminating social isolation and thus, waive off any fees/surcharges/commission gained from facilitating connections between the customers and the companions. Essentially, it would be completely FREE to get a companion!! We would also encourage companions to waive any fees associated.

Robofun is a Melbourne based robotics and coding academy for kids with a gender focus offering affordable and fun 3D-Design and Coding classes. Robofun have taken their classes from face to face to online allowing them to now operate nationally.  By leveraging tech, students can refer back to recorded classes, as well as address ongoing challenges via ClassDojo which enables parents to communicate directly with instructors. The small group classes are a fabulous educational hour for kids to spend online learning with family and friends.

Anika Legal is a tax-deductible charity and social enterprise providing free, effective legal assistance to those who can’t access it, through practical legal training and trusted partnerships. In light of the pandemic, Anika Legal is providing free legal advice to tenants who are experiencing hardship due to COVID-19.

Anika has found that while many Victorian tenants are suffering, relatively few are aware of the free services available to them to give them a better chance at safe and secure housing. Visit their website and social media for more information.