have supported our work....across our now
that have provided...
with a fork in the road...and access to
to get their lives on track and start thriving.
If you live in Melbourne we'd love you to come and share a meal in one of our cafes (the locations are on the Cafes page).
Or you could ask us to cater a lunch or event at your workplace (the details on the Catering page).
If you don't live in Melbourne there are still loads of ways you can share a meal:
- Buy our beautiful new cookbook (visit the Shop page) and cook up your own storm.
- Share a meal with family and friends and donate what you would have spent on a meal out.
Your $5 fast food meal could pay for the train or tram fare for one of our young people to get to work.
Your $10 takeaway could allow a young person to go on an excursion with their class.
Your $50 meal could pay the fees for a young person to get their Certificate II in Kitchen Operations.
Your $250 meal could cover all the major expenses of one young person going through the program.
Thanks for changing the menu for young people!
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Every week our cafes, catering company and coffee roastery serve up deliciousness to thousands and thousands of Melburnians. Our food is made fresh each day in our kitchens & cafes, and contains no added preservatives and nasties. Our amazing coffees from around the world are small batch roasted on our beautiful vintage Probat roaster and then brewed fresh by our team of baristas.
We believe that all young people should get the opportunity to thrive, no matter what their starting point. That's why each year we provide intensive wrap-around support, vocational training and real work experience to over 100 young people who really need a hand. In short, as a social enterprise, food and coffee is our means, but stopping youth homelessness and disadvantage is our ends.
Would you like to hear some of the amazing stories of our young people? Or find out more about STREAT's history and social enterprise model? Or maybe you'd like to read some of our case studies, or about our impact? Maybe you want to get involved? Anyway, there's always loads of amazing stuff happening at STREAT and here's where you can find out all about it.
A number of years ago, a bunch of us – chefs and baristas, a clinical psych, social workers and assorted others – downed some macchiatos and got to working trying to stop youth homelessness and disadvantage.
It goes without saying that we're passionate about food and coffee. In fact, we've now collectively imparted thousands of hours of our hospitality knowledge to our young people. But we’re also passionate about giving young people the personal support, life skills, training and real work experience they need to start achieving their personal goals.
We're determined that our young people should gain the transferrable employability skills that will stand them in good stead in any industry. We teach them how to set a daily routine and turn up to work on time. How to work constructively as a member of a small team. How to be clean and well presented. How to overcome their fears and engage with the customers they serve. How to put on a smile and have a great workplace attitude – even on the days you really, really don’t feel like it.
But of even greater importance to us, is that our young people learn how deeply we care for them. We want them to know that not just our cafe doors – but also our hearts – remain open to them, no matter what. Yeah, we know that these sentiments sound a bit Hallmark-cardish. But this is the simple truth.
Delicious food and coffee made fresh each day.
From the crack of dawn our baristas and chefs start welcoming our first loyal cafe customers in Melbourne Central, RMIT, McKillop St and Cromwell St. Whether you're in a rush to get to work or uni, or you're just wanting to kick back for a few hours in a friendly environment, we understand that as a Melburnian, you'll be wanting nothing but the best food and coffee
Whether it's a Board room lunch for 15 people, or a canape function for 150 people, STREAT can provide you with deliciousness. Our food is handmade fresh each day. It's natural, and doesn't contain preservatives and other nasty stuff. We also proudly source seasonally and from local suppliers who love their produce as much as we do.
We seek out beans from around the world and small batch roast them on our beautiful vintage Probat roaster. We have a range of blends and single origins that are perfect for cafes, work and home. You can either order coffee online, grab a bag of beans at one of our cafes, or drop into our Flemington cafe to meet our roaster Michael. You can also buy your coffee paraphenalia at our Flemington cafe. Also ask about our next cupping sessions.
We change the menu for young people who really need a hand.
We work with each young person to understand their hopes and dreams for the future. From there we can then provide the necessary care and 'wrap-around' supports for them to achieve this. This includes a range of vocational training programs, life skills, social and creative activities, individualised case management and support accessing specialist services (like drug and alcohol, mental health, housing and juvenile justice to name just a few).
Our young people have often struggled with a range of really complex issues. Like homelessness. Or mental health issues. Or drug and alcohol abuse. Or family violence. Or time in prison. Or long stretches of time being disconnected from school or other community groups. But no matter what their starting point, they daily inspire us with their hopes and dreams for the future. We'd love you to meet some of them.
If you're a young person aged between 16-25 years, and you really need to be given the support, training, and work experience to get a job, then this page is for you! We have a whole bunch of different classes that run each year, but we also offer other really flexible work experience opportunities. Check out what's coming up soon.
There's always lots of things happening at STREAT.
Right from the outset we were determined to build a scalable social enterprise model to address youth disadvantage. We've learned a lot as we've built our portfolio of hospitality businesses. We've also kept pushing ourselves to innovate and try new things. This includes pioneering work in Australian impact investment where we've successfully engaged a wide range of investors and other supporters to help. But we're just warming up. And we'd love to share with you our far bigger dreams!
A couple of years ago we were gifted an historic Melbourne property by benefactor Geoff Harris. The site is set to become our major flagship site containing a youth training academy, cafe, artisan bakery, coffee roastery, production kitchen and head office. The site will help us increase the number of youth we can train to over 250 a year. It will also help STREAT scale to complete financial self-sufficiency. Come find out more.
Pour yourself a quiet cuppa and then come and hear about their fears and dreams of our young people. Or maybe you'd like to come and share a meal or coffee, order catering from us, make a donation, partner with us, come and volunteer, join our mailing list, connect with us on social media, partner with us, invest with us.
We're a registered Australian charity and any donation you make over $2 is tax deductible.
STREAT makes a dollar stretch a long way. And for every dollar you give us as a donation, we generate a further $3 within our businesses.
That's the beautiful reality of supporting a social enterprise!
Your $2 could provide lunch for a young person on their training day. Your $5 could pay the train fare for a young person to get to work. Your $10 could allow a young person to go on an excursion or social activity. Your $50 could pay the course fee for a young person to get their Certificate II in Kitchen Operations. Your $250 would cover all the major expenses (excluding staff costs) of one young person going through the program.
An interdisciplinary team with big ideas and challenges.
STREAT has a passionate, active and committed Board, that not only understands its responsibilities under the Corporations Act and takes ultimate responsibility for all matters relating to the running of STREAT, but that does so in strong partnership with STREAT’s management. The Board comprises directors with expertise across key areas including community development, psychology, hospitality, social enterprise, business, vocational training, law and accountancy.
Bec flipped a coin to determine if she'd become a scientist or artist. Twenty years later she's not surprised to have co-founded and be running a hospitality social enterprise to stop youth homelessness. The thread running through all the projects she does both professionally and personally is a love of bringing together unlikely collaborators to try and address seemingly intractable issues. She says these groups of people are often characterised by four key traits - they dream big, they're creative, they get shit done, and they have loads of fun together.
We're an ecclectic bunch of about 40 people - chefs, baristas and a really diverse support team that help both our young people and our businesses thrive. What we've also learnt consistently over years of research, is that our young people - and also our customers - keep coming back to STREAT because the team is so friendly and creates a place where people feel they belong. We're just as much a social inclusion program as we are a stopper of homelessness. We're proud of this.