Year 9 Innovate

On Wednesday 3rd March, Nick the co-founder of HoMie, spoke to all Year 9 students about how he started and built up his social enterprise.   

HoMie is a non for profit, social enterprise focused around homelessness in Melbourne, and breaking down the stigma associated with those living rough on the streets. It first started in 2015 when Nick and his other co-founders had the idea of looking at homelessness and how they could help. They decided to start a Facebook page called ‘Homelessness of Melbourne’ which they used to share stories of people experiencing homelessness. Their aim was to spread awareness about the situation these people were in and to try to break down the stereotypes around homelessness. 

After launching the Facebook page and hearing about so many people’s stories, Nick and his co-founders decided to experiment with something new. They opened their store on Brunswick Street to sell street wear and started VIP Day. VIP Day happens once a month, and it was a day where people who were experiencing homelessness could come and pick out five items of clothing, get coffee, food, and haircuts all for free. There was no catch, and these days are still running. It worked great but they still felt it was only a small amount of what could be achieved. 

HoMie partnered up with big brands like Champion and Nike and created a program where people experiencing homelessness can sign up and work at one of these places, as well as their own store on Brunswick Street. Participants engage in an eight-month program where they are guaranteed a paid job where and gain retail experience whilst earning money doing something they will hopefully enjoy. HoMie has now been functioning as a social enterprise for approximately five years. 

Nick taught us a lot about starting a social enterprise and talked to us about the skills needed to be a good entrepreneur, like good communication skills, and showed us how passionate you need to be to start a social enterprise. 

During Innovate this semester, Year 9 students are participating in the $20 Boss Program. The $20 Boss Program supports students to develop their skills and knowledge to solve a real-world problem by building their own social enterprise. The knowledge that Nick shared will be very helpful as we start the journey to create our own ‘start-ups’ in Innovate. 

By Mia Williams.