Another Family Assisted and Note About Closing Donations

BFF has provided accommodation for another family of 3. Samira* was a refugee from Iran escaping persecution targeted at women. She was being coerced into an arranged marriage, but when she did not agree, she faced the threat of an acid attack and other violence. As a refugee, she made her way to Australia where she found a partner--now her husband. However the couple again faced domestic violence by his family and, in escaping the situation, ended up homeless and forced to sleep outside, even while Samira was pregnant. The couple found help from LocalKind Northern Beaches, and with assistance from their support workers, the family has now found a safe, affordable living situation--working directly with a granny flat owner who responded to a call-out for the family's need, rather than the more costly route of going through a rental agency. However, the family are still under severe financial stress as they had to relocate to avoid violence and are now trying to build a new life where they have had a newborn, and the husband has only recently secured employment. The family has not yet had time to build savings. LocalKind provides support for both refugees as well as people facing domestic violence, but they do not provide financial support for housing, so this match is very complementary for our target groups. Your donation will go to rent support while the family finds their feet and adjusts to their new community, now with safe accommodation.

Brighter Fields Foundation is no longer accepting donations, and will wind down operations. All funds have now been accounted for for the purpose communicated, and a big thank you to all donors for the impact you have had. We made the decision to wind down as the (all volunteer) team are now devoting time to other commitments. Since inception, 33 people in our target group have been helped with free or discounted housing.

Our Clients’ Stories and a Major Donation Alert!

First, I’m happy to report that we are helping more people than ever, with our refugee and domestic violence clients now crossing the 30 mark! With more people helped, that means our need is greater, so I am happy to say we received a US$12,000 major donation from Shelly Fields, which enables us to grow our reach and provide more housing to people in need.

Two quick stories from our clients.

Fatema* came from Iraq as part of an arranged marriage, the physical assaults started as soon as she reached Australia, the police were called, and she was referred to a crisis shelter. Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter helped with English education, a visa classification change, and finding a job, and helped Fatema find independent affordable housing. She calls it her “palace of freedom” and your funding is assisting her rent while she builds a new chapter.

Aaisha* is a recently arrived refugee from Afghanistan. Following Taliban occupation in August 2021, Aaisha was not safe. She was a nurse running a medical clinic, but since she came from a region the Taliban oppose, she’s a working woman, and she is a pregnant single woman, she faced persecution including the threat of being stoned to death. With the help of agencies, Refugee Services Texas, and Rafi—himself an Afghan refugee (pictured)—Aaisha has been placed in discounted housing, and your donation will support a new, safer life for her. She has found employment at Goodwill, and is adjusting to her new home while preparing for the birth of her child.

Twenty of our other clients escaped from Afghanistan with Aaisha on the day you probably saw on your TV, and managed to board packed cargo planes with their families to safer areas when Kabul airport was mobbed. Your kind donations will help reduce a big worry—housing, so that our clients like these get a leg up in building a brighter future.

*not her real name

Helping more people

You might have noticed our ticker of number of people helped is growing… now up to 15 clients having received free or discounted housing! With more people served, we have more need for your assistance.

Since September we have provided free and discounted housing to 9 additional people, and have expanded assistance to our other target: victims of Domestic Violence. Two additional Afghan refugee families (more about their stories to come) have been placed in housing at no cost to them—as long as funds last, which is not long. They were driven out of their country as it was unsafe for them to stay, with unique challenges to the women we are helping resettle.

Also, 1 in 3 women in the community experience Domestic Violence (DV), and for our client, it led to her needing crisis housing and now we are supporting her to move into longer-term affordable independent housing. As you can imagine, DV is scary and can result in severe financial stress to women. Through partnership with Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter, she now has a pathway to safe housing and financial support… from you!

We’re helping more people in need, but our need for donations has never been greater. Please donate today to support this work.

August 2022: Preparing for New Arrivals

We’re excited to be welcoming some new tenants over the next week/s. We have secured accommodation at about 50% of market rent, and will be housing a new family from Afghanistan imminently. We have already begun the pre-arrival process to start to get the property ready for the new tenants, and our partner Refugee Services Texas has received notification of several assured families and is just awaiting flight details, so we can match a refugee family with their new home. Your kind donation is most welcome as it will directly support our family’s housing costs while they settle in their new community.

Oct 2020 - Help Fund Lease Extension During Coronavirus

Coronavirus has made things tough for a lot of people, and it’s a particularly important time to help refugees make a new start. Imagine you escaped the frying pan of war or persecution, only to fall into the fire of a pandemic with its health and economic challenges.

With help from Brighter Fields Foundation donors, we have been able to extend a one-year lease for discounted housing for refugees. Now we need your help to fund it. With the uncertainty of employment and housing affordability, we appeal to you more than ever to provide any support you can for free and discounted housing to our refugee community. Please donate, and we remind you that 100% of your donation will go to supporting housing for refugees—with no administration fees or overhead, since it’s all a volunteer endeavour.

A quick recap of what the Brighter Fields Foundation community has done so far in the past year:

• Secured affordable housing at a reduced rate well below market rates for 12 months (now extended for another 12 months!)

• Placed 6 refugees in housing

• Fund-raised to provide nearly 4 months of free rent for our refugee clients

Donate today to help us be able to continue to get low-cost housing options and to help fund this housing for our refugee clients. Help others to find a brighter future during this pandemic!

April 2020 - Some Key Updates

No more Federal funding… so housing is now being provided by donors from our latest drive!

As of this month (April 2020), our refugee clients are no longer receiving any government housing assistance, and they are fully responsible for paying their own housing. However, thanks to kind donations during our last drive, Brighter Fields Foundation has raised enough money for a few months of free housing funding—and during these uncertain times, it could not come at a better time. 100% of all donations will go to housing for this cause, and as a result May rent is being paid by the kind contributions of our donors.

New Website!

If you’re here, you’ve probably noticed that we have a new Website. We are very thankful to the donated time and effort of Nugget Digital who designed and built our site and logos. We think it looks great, and it also includes the ability to make donations using your credit card or PayPal, rather than relying on a 3rd party donation portal.

We’re making great progress, but we’re not done yet!

So far, Brighter Fields Foundation has given free housing to 6 people in our target groups.

October 2019 - Understanding refugees

Some Facts About Refugees

Why are there displaced people, refugees, and asylum seekers? How many of them and where do they come from? This BBC Article is very informative about the factors impacting refugees, and gives a greater appreciation for the magnitude of the issue.

“The number of displaced people has doubled in the last 10 years, the UNHCR's figures show, with the devastating wars in Iraq and Syria causing many families to leave their communities."

"Almost 70% of the world's refugees come from just five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia, according to the UNHCR. And their neighbouring nations host the most."

October 2019 -Exciting news with our first placement!

First client placement for Brighter Fields Foundation!

We are excited to report that our first refugee family has been placed with free housing!  They are a family of six from Afghanistan who have been through all due process and checks to be classified as refugees and given entry to the United States. They are moving in October 15th, 2019, and housing will be provided free of cost to them. We wish them well in starting a new and productive life in their new home!