At Juno, and sector-wide, we know that services co-designed with people who have lived experience lead to better outcomes. However, there are limited opportunities and resources for people with lived experience of homelessness and family violence to contribute to the design of services. This lack of engagement disempowers individuals who have valuable insights, and ultimately leads to services that may miss the mark in addressing the real needs of clients.
At the same time, Juno’s frontline staff face increasingly complex challenges due to the housing crisis and under-resourced support systems, with resources stretched thinner than ever. To meaningfully support people facing homelessness, we need frontline staff and organisations that are equipped to navigate a sector in crisis.
Thanks to a generous $5,000 grant from StreetSmart, Juno is addressing two critical needs: amplifying lived experience voices and supporting staff wellbeing.
The first part of this project focuses on developing a structured approach to gathering and integrating client feedback. In collaboration with Lived Experience Advisers, we will co-design processes to ensure that feedback is heard and used to improve our services. This will help us ensure that the support we provide aligns with our values and practice frameworks and meets the evolving needs of the people we work with.
The second aspect of this project is providing reflective practice sessions for our frontline staff. These sessions, facilitated by an external professional, allow staff to reflect on their experiences, improve their practice, and take time to pause. These opportunities are critical to reducing burnout and improving staff wellbeing and practice and help us to continue to offer high-quality support.
With the ongoing housing crisis and rising demand for services, these initiatives are more important than ever. This funding will allow us to strengthen both our service design and our team, ensuring that Juno continues to meet the needs of women, trans, gender diverse people and children experiencing homelessness and family violence.
We’re deeply grateful to StreetSmart for their support in enhancing both lived experience leadership and staff wellbeing, helping us to ultimately provide the best possible support.
Find out more about StreetSmart on their website.
