Japanese social inclusion organisation, Inba Gakusha, provides employment, transportation and home care to people with physical and intellectual disabilities in Chiba.
Recently, Inba Gakusha moved into a 131 square metre space in Goodman Business Park in Inzai City that is part art studio and part fresh produce store.
Goodman has been investing in Inba Gakusha for some years at the Business Park. Employees are paid a fair wage to maintain grass areas, provide catering and charge e-bike batteries. Meanwhile, Inba Gakusha’s handcrafted furniture and art is featured in lobbies and resting areas.
The Goodman Foundation is funding the space for three years to allow Inba Gakusha to continue to find independent income sources for people who may otherwise struggle to secure them.
Wearing new, high-quality clothes never fails to bring dignity and confidence. That’s the truth at the heart of clothes redistribution charity, Thread Together.
Since 2012, Thread Together has been giving those in need the chance to hand-select a wardrobe of brand-name clothes and accessories from excess stock donated by Australian fashion retailers.
Rather than going to landfill, clothes are given to people who are experiencing homelessness, youth at risk, Indigenous communities, survivors of domestic violence, refugees and the long-term unemployed.
As an early supporter, Goodman provided shared warehouse space and a van to help Thread Together deliver essential clothing to people in need including vulnerable women escaping coercive and abusive relationships as well as new arrivals to our country who are seeking refuge.
Thread Together responds in times of crisis too. When fires and floods wrecked homes and livelihoods in 2020, the charity drove clothes to those in need. Their roving vans and flagship locations are set up like stores so people can browse and try clothes on offering choice to empower and restore dignity.
Last year, to further the charity’s tangible community work, Goodman provided Thread Together with a 1,600 square metre warehouse, custom-fitted for clothes. The new warehouse will allow the charity to save more brand-new clothing from landfill and provide more vulnerable people in Australia with the basic human right of essential clothing.
From the new warehouse, Thread Together is supplying clothes to around 2,000 people a week through a network of 500 charities, partners and social service agencies, including the Department of Justice and Corrective Services.
It is also a beautifully branded space where Thread Together can hold corporate fundraising events, employ long-term unemployed people and host volunteering drives.
Goodman showcases Thread Together’s work internally, to encourage and match employee donations and, when it is again possible, to engage its people in volunteer days.
In response to the devastating 2019-2020 bush fires, Goodman made the largest corporate donation ever to the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) by pledging a state-of-the-art firefighting helicopter. NSW RFS recently took delivery of the helicopter which is being fitted out with a winch, a belly tank for water bombing and a surveillance camera for use in firefighting and search and rescue operations. It is being prepared to be used for the 2021-22 fire season.
RFS NSW Bell 412, state-of-the-art fire fighting helicopter, Sydney, Australia
Violence against women is a serious problem globally. One of the most worrying social impacts of the COVID lockdowns is women’s increased exposure to violent partners at a time of decreased access to services, data from the World Health Organisation states.
In Australia, almost 10 women each day are hospitalised for assault injuries perpetrated by a spouse or domestic partner. To help to address this urgent need, the Goodman Foundation engaged with Our Watch, a registered charity established in 2013. Our Watch is a national leader in the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia. It works to embed gender equality and prevent violence where Australians live, learn, work and socialise.
With seed funding from the Goodman Foundation, Our Watch plans to create an institute to empower Australians to stop violence before it starts through training and practical tools that will equip individuals and organisations to lead prevention work in their communities.
For two years, the Goodman Foundation has supported Paralympics Australia in its quest to achieve its goals in Tokyo by funding vital warehouse space to allow the team’s athletes and support staff to focus on event preparation. When the Tokyo Paralympic Games were postponed in 2020, we provided additional funding to cover the warehouse space for a second consecutive year.
Goodman is proud to support Paralympics Australia and the role of the Paralympic Games in showcasing disability, challenging stigma and creating a more inclusive society.
