Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
A book of poetry sits on my side table. The poems are by Emily Dickinson. I’m drawn to poets who have forged through difficult times, such as a woman in the 1800s who produced some of the most original poetry of her time.
Although Dickinson’s work was never published in her lifetime, she still influences us today. ‘“Hope” is the Thing with Feathers’, one of her most accessible pieces, translates to many of us in times of challenge. Dickinson envisions hope as a bird that sings most sweetly during life’s storms, calling from the chilliest land and strangest sea – a small but persistent voice that asks nothing in return.
We at Fusion have often leaned on themes of hope. Like Dickinson, we take courage in holding onto hope during times of grief and hardship, when young people face the cruel reality of homelessness. In addition to Dickinson’s hope, our team, on the frontline of homelessness heading into 2026, recognises another facet of hope.
In 2025, hope carried us through these achievements:
We supported 89 young people this year. Through our intensive housing program, we housed 65 young people – a remarkable 97%+ increase from 2024. An additional 24 young people were supported in off-site accommodation. This was achieved despite being critically underfunded in a region that has now been acknowledged as having the highest rate of rough sleeping in our state* – higher even than Melbourne.
We also supported 20 families, despite receiving 0% government funding for family homelessness support. Our community stepped up. Every single one of these families has experienced family violence, another critical area receiving zero funding. 85% of these families have survived family violence, yet this essential work gets no government support. Our community made it possible.
All of this was 100% community-funded.
Our op shop enterprise, Thrift, has seen a 10% increase in sales over the final 6 months of 2025, thanks to our dynamic management team, committed volunteers, and generous donors, who share their high-quality items with us to give them a second life and help raise funds for this remarkable work. Our Thrift operations at Tyabb Packing House and on eBay – an eclectic mix of antique, vintage, and unique treasures – have brought in a whopping over $57,000, with sales trending upward. Huge thanks to our generous friends at the Tyabb Packing Shed, David Calleja Trading, and others, who understand the evolving second-hand goods market. There is something remarkably special about a community working together to support others.
Event profits increased by 20% this year. From our Garden Party and Gala Dinner to smaller ventures like the Bunnings BBQ, each gathering made a meaningful impact. The dynamic leadership of Jane Fielden and Cara O’Shea, along with the legendary Mary Trantino (Putt Gallery), at our Gala creates a welcoming, healthy culture in which volunteers and participants know their efforts truly make a difference.
The exceptionally kind support of our philanthropic friends has enabled us not only to maintain our ongoing services but to expand, adding employed roles and extending staff hours as the need on the ground continues to grow. We want, in particular, to recognise the following individuals and organisations who have seen the chronic need and responded to our team’s valiant efforts. We know you haven’t asked for public recognition – you simply want to see our young ones housed and supported. It has been a hard year. The need is urgent and overwhelming. Thank you for standing with us as we hold these young ones together: Mornington Peninsula Financial Services and Dirk Werner; Lachlan McLaren Foundation; Ed Odonoghue (Morgan & Griffen); our anonymous friends G and V, who now also volunteer; T and J (long-time anonymous supporters – we love you; G. J. Gardiner (what a heart you have); BNI Breeze Somerville; Sunrise Wanderers; Kacey and Teash at FYND Finance; Pier Marketing; Bay Print Design; and Smart Business Solutions.
We step into 2026 with hope. When we recognise our community, we see a story of hope. Hope lives here – we will hold on to that for our young neighbours when they no longer have the strength to face another day.
Our hope is not shiny and polished, on a stage lit up in neon lights for a performance. It exists inside courthouses, where a young mother and Jac, our Families Coordinator, together seek to secure a safe future. It is Sophie, Lead Caseworker, listening to a young person share their tragic story for the first time, finding trust. It is Adi, our young volunteer lead tenant, sitting with a young person waiting for an ambulance – a young person who carries such a heavy burden of trauma that they can no longer bear it alone. It exists whenever someone in our team needs to call 000.
Today, we honour the Bird, feathers and all, knowing the hustle for hope has an additional layer of grit that our wonderful community will humbly hold onto.
Let me introduce you to a poem by another poet, Caitlin Seida, who seems to understand this grit-laid hope:
Hope Is Not a Bird, Emily, It’s a Sewer Rat
Hope is not the thing with feathers
That comes home to roost
When you need it most.Hope is an ugly thing
With teeth and claws and
Patchy fur that’s seen some shit.It’s what thrives in the discards
And survives in the ugliest parts of our world,
Able to find a way to go on
When nothing else can even find a way in.It’s the gritty, nasty little carrier of such
diseases as
optimism, persistence,
Perseverance and joy,
Transmissible as it drags its tail across
your path
and
bites you in the ass.Hope is not some delicate, beautiful bird,
Emily.
It’s a lowly little sewer rat
That snorts pesticides like they were
Lines of coke and still
Shows up on time to work the next day
Looking no worse for wear.
And so we step into 2026.
Gemma Hughes (Team Leader, Fusion Mornington Peninsula)