Greater Shepparton Foundation Limited
GSF is part of a proud, resilient and innovative community, however data reveals pockets of entrenched disadvantage throughout the Greater Shepparton region. One in six people, and nearly half our households with dependent children, are living below the poverty line. Our region has one of the highest rates of housing stress and homelessness in Victoria. GSF is recognised as a trusted local philanthropic hub with a goal to fund courageous and creative solutions to tackle disadvantage. We aim for inclusive, interconnected communities where everybody has an equal opportunity to participate. By truly listening, learning, and activating local expertise, we are identifying ways to strengthen our community. We are committed to our view that if we are led by community, we can deliver with community. With our placebased knowledge and consultation with our community we have identified the areas of social inclusion; housing; parenting and early childhood development; and employment and economic engagement as major areas in need of our focus. GSF works as a connector of resources and skills with the needs of the community via its own innovative initiatives, as well as working with communitybased organisations that align with the Foundation s purpose. GSF has emerged from the belief that collaboration and partnership empower our communities to local solution to addressing communal challenges. Partners are sought to achieve our goal to amplify, assist and elevate community driven change in our priority focus areas. GSF is strengthening partnerships and building new connections to empower the Greater Shepparton community to grow aspiration thanks to donors. It with the generosity of donors that GSF is amplifying community led change across the Greater Shepparton region and making a meaningful impact. GSF is nimble in its approach, committed to exploring diverse perceptions rather than preconceived propositions or solutions. It is due to this that GSF led a response to community need during the COVID pandemic and significant flooding event that impacted our region. We are committed to research and learning as we are aware that everything, we do affects our community. Our social impact, can be positive or negative, intended or unintended. Our dedication to evaluation of our impact enables us to capture outcomes towards evidence informed practice. GSF has six major projects that align with our focus areas and are delivering on our mission. These projects include Little Learners, Oral Language Intervention (OLI), Community Health Educators (CHE s), Lift Off Education Scholarships, Community Flood Recovery Response and the MosquitoBorne Disease Intervention Prevention program. Additionally, smaller community led projects are supported by GSF s annual grant program. Projects funded address immediate need and improve a situation for people in the short or medium term. Applications from