“#HomelessHack17 is another demonstration that housing is a team effort” – Minister for Housing and Public Works

Marist180 Social Innovation Manager in Brisbane, Steve Williams, co-organised Queensland’s first ever Homelessness Hackathon in the first weekend of June which was attended by key stakeholders in the homelessness space. Among the attendees was Mick de Brenni, Minister for Housing and Public Works and Labor Member for Springwood. The hackathon’s objective was to work towards alleviating issues faced by people experiencing homelessness in our community. Minister Mick de Brenni summed up the significance of this event well when he wrote, “#HomelessHack17 is another demonstration that housing is a team effort”. Steve will be sharing his reflections on the hackathon and its significance to the work we do here at Marist180 in the following weeks. In the meantime, do take a look at the event’s highlights showcased in the video below:

Homelessness Hackathon from AidWorthy on Vimeo.

Marist180 would like to extend a big thank you to our partners in this event: Orange Sky Laundry, Common Ground QLD, River City Labs, Urban Informatics at QUT Design Lab, and The Incus Group. Special thanks also goes to the event’s funder, The Department of Housing’s Dignity First Fund, without whom this event would not have been possible.

A conversation with Alex, a former foster care client

Alex, one of our former foster care clients, dropped in last week and was keen to chat about his experiences with Marist180 Foster Care. So we made a little video on an iPhone (apologies for the poor sound quality, hope the subtitles help!). We thought his reflections on what makes a good (or bad) foster experience are worth sharing. Thanks Alex.


If you have the capacity to give a young person the attention and communication they need, please consider becoming a foster carer. Go here for more information today.