HoMie: a stitch in time

Ask Steph Say about how we begin to change the lives of thousands of Australia’s young people affected by homelessness, and you get a unique answer.

Enabling young people to a better life comes in the form of colourful knits, cool hoodies and awesome t-shirts.

Steph is the CEO of streetwear brand HoMie, a social enterprise which in its nine years has helped more than 2,550 young people through its well-respected job training program and gifted clothing.

As a standalone business it is impressive. For a social enterprise -that also directs 100% of those profits to support at-risk youth - it is extraordinary.

The overall HoMie business has seen a 60 per cent increase in the last two years alone and has struck deals with companies with major labels including Disney, Champion, and Mambo to rebirthing off-cut garments into exclusive one offs. The corporate engagement doesn’t stop there with Nike, Champion and Sportsgirl supporting graduates from their training programs into employment.

On any Saturday, HoMie’s Fitzroy store is pulsing with shoppers and the brand has a growing online presence.

“A social enterprise business has good at its core. It’s not strictly a charity model, we’re not asking for a handout. We're asking you to do business with us for good,” Steph says.

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First steps

Not bad for a company that started when the two founders – Marcus Crook and Nick Pearce – met on a charity bike ride in South-East Asia.

Steph says they came back to Melbourne, with a real sense of purpose.

“One of the things that caught their eye, being Melbourne locals, was walking around the city and seeing a lot of people experiencing homelessness and sleeping rough. They decided they wanted to try and break down those barriers and the stigmas associated with homelessness.”

Their first effort, setting up a Facebook page to tell the stories of people experiencing homelessness, garnered attention. Steph explains they then decided to branch out.

“Marcus had a really keen interest in fashion and streetwear. They thought, we can we combine these two passions and make something of it. So the ended result was gearing up and launching HoMie as a pop-up store in Melbourne Central.”

“Five years ago, it expanded to a standalone store in Fitzroy - that's now our flagship site.

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A call to action

But Steph points out the problems leading to youth homelessness are complex and growing.

“Make no bones about it - we are in the midst of a youth homelessness crisis. We have, on any given night in Australia, 28,000 young people without a place to call home who are experiencing homelessness in some way, shape or form.”

“It's astounding and heartbreaking. The leading causes of youth homelessness are family and domestic violence along with lack of affordable housing. These issues are outside the control of the young people who are increasingly impacted.”

Actions with purpose

For Steph, the strength of HoMie is about helping empower young people.

It does this through two different social impact programmes – both of these directly aimed at garnering confidence and capacity building.

HoMie’s VIP Day Program involves inviting young people who are affected by homelessness and hardship to come into the Fitzroy store to shop for free, choosing five items of streetwear to take home. They can also get a haircut, get their nails done and have a bite to eat in an inclusive, personalised shopping experience.

HoMie recently notched up their 102nd VIP Day, where they close the shop to the public for the day and instead give back to those their work is centred around supporting.

“This is an opportunity for social connection, inclusion and most importantly - fun - during an otherwise pretty difficult time for these young people.”

HoMie also runs a market leading Pathway Alliance program, which is an eight month paid education and employment program supporting young people to complete a Certificate III in Business.

Alongside that, they get real world experience working in a retail environment – either at HoMie’s Fitzroy store or with partners Nike, Champion and Sportsgirl.

“We closely measure the impact of our programs in both a short and long-term, and we see life changing results from our work.”

“In the last cohort, 90 per cent of the young people from our program remain employed or engaged in some kind of further education 12 months post-graduation.”

Building hope

Steph says HoMie is growing thanks to the industry-wide recognition of the power of social enterprises to do good.

“When people ask how they can support HoMie, we always say the best way you can get behind our work is to either buy our streetwear or do business with us.”

“We’re a proud social enterprise and our aim is to run a commercially viable business, providing products and services to the market, ultimately delivering good back to our community.”

She calls out the brand’s incredible partners and the industry-at-large as the key to unlocking growth for HoMie.

“When big businesses use their buying power to support social enterprise, that's where we will see true value of business for good with incredible social impact.”

No matter how insurmountable the issue of youth homelessness seems, Steph and the team at HoMie draw their collective strength from the spirits of the young people they support each and every day.

“The young people participating in our programs are extraordinary, talented and strong. At HoMie, we believe homelessness is a circumstance you can work your way out of with the right support and opportunity.”

“HoMie is all about creating opportunities, but the young people need to step through the door themselves. Seeing how our program participants grow in strength, confidence and resilience is inspiring. It makes us all feel that the future is in good hands.”  

HoMie is an ANZ customer and previous Community Grant recipient who recently spent the day selling their streetwear at ANZ’s Headquarters as part of its Community Market Place.

Caryn Kakas is Head of Housing Strategy, ANZ