Our 2025 Festive Appeal supports women and children escaping violence

We’re pleased to launch our 2025 Festive Appeal

This appeal highlights the urgent need for safety, stability and dignity for women and children experiencing homelessness this Christmas.

For many of us, Christmas is a time to rest, connect and feel at home. For thousands of women and children escaping violence, the festive season often magnifies the trauma of homelessness. 

This Christmas, our Festive Appeal will help to ensure mothers and children wake up in safety. Your donation provides more than shelter – it offers dignity, stability and the chance to begin again. 

Christmas can magnify the trauma of homelessness

Christmas is not a time of joy for families experiencing homelessness; it is a reminder of what has been lost. Instead of warmth and celebration, many mothers and children will spend Christmas in cars, crisis motels or other unsafe environments. The housing system was never designed for families, and the instability and isolation they face is especially acute at this time of year. 

• 54% of women and children seeking homelessness services in Victoria are escaping family violence.
• Families spend an average of 12+ weeks in emergency accommodation – often in motels with little safety, privacy or support.
• Pregnant women and new mothers face even greater risks – 84% of Cornelia Program participants have experienced family violence.

For these families, Christmas is not joyful – it is a struggle to stay safe. 

Our response: safety, care and pathways forward

Launch Housing provides trauma-informed crisis accommodation and long-term housing pathways designed specifically for women and children. Our programs, including our Pregnancy Outreach Program, Cornelia and specialist family services, help families heal, rebuild and move forward.

Your donation transforms Christmas morning

Your gift changes what Christmas looks like for a mother and child in crisis. It means:

• A warm bed instead of the back seat of a car
• A child who can play, rest and feel secure
• A mother who can rest, heal and rebuild

Your support keeps children connected to school and community, protects families from further violence and restores dignity at a critical time.

This festive season, your generosity can give a mother and child the gift of safety, dignity and hope.
Please donate today and help a family wake up safe on Christmas morning.