Food insecurity is a prevalent challenge faced by people experiencing homelessness and disadvantage who are often met with not knowing how and where their next meal might come from. The COVID-19 crisis exacerbated this dire reality for hundreds of Victorians across inner Melbourne.

In the later half of 2019, Two Good Co. were providing a steady supply of 100+ meals each week and local community groups added donated non-perishable items that we could keep on hand to respond to the immediate needs of our service users. On top of that we received a delivery of 500 ready-made meals and 30 boxes of fresh produce earlier this year from the crew at A Moving Feast.

The provision of food quickly became a critical component of our holistic and wrap-around support and we teamed up with several organisations and local businesses to ensure our service users had access to nutritious food, particularly during the pandemic.

By teaming up with the likes of StreetSmart Australia, Alex Makes Meals, A Moving Feast and Blake’s Feast during 2020 we were able to ensure that people experiencing homelessness had sustainable access to nutritious food, no matter their circumstance. These partnerships also enabled the activation of unused capacities of local hospitality venues, hospitality workers and people in the community devastated by the COVID-19 crisis to safely prepare and provide access to nutritious and hearty meals for people doing it tough.

As the pandemic unfolded, food insecurity for our service users increased exponentially.

Through StreetSmart Australia’s SmartMeals initiative, we teamed up with local Peruvian restaurant, Pastuso to prepare and safely provided over 1,600+ meals to people visiting The Living Room throughout the pandemic crisis. This was bolstered by Alex Makes Meals who stepped up to provide a weekly supply in excess of 300+ meals that catered to a variety of dietary requirements for the people accessing our services.

Through a collective response that leveraged each each other’s strength in business, food and community services, we’ve been able to provide in excess of 14,000+ meals to people experiencing homelessness and doing it tough across Melbourne in the first half of 2020 alone.

Help us continue to provide food for people experiencing homelessness by donating today.