Community Wellbeing

Our business is about much more than managing and building properties. We have a strong social commitment to enhancing the wellbeing of tenants and the communities in which we work. We deliver initiatives to engage with tenants and the community. Using a Social Impact approach, we work with community members and partners to build community capacity and strengthen connection between people and the places we share so that residents and the local environment have the opportunity to flourish.

Initially Centacare Evolve Housing's community initiatives focused on Bridgewater, Gagebrook and Herdsman Cove for the Better Housing Futures contract, managing a portfolio of 1050 homes. A Master Plan guided this work. As Centacare Evolve Housing grows a state-wide presence, there exists a need for a complementary Community Wellbeing Strategy focussing on the wellbeing of all tenants and the communities served by Centacare Evolve Housing.

At the heart of the strategy is our goal to create thriving communities that are informed, connected and engaged to enhance wellbeing. It will keep our Tenant Communities and key partner interests at the centre of all decision making. The strategy will enable us to take and create opportunities for our community in a meaningful way. There is a strong focus on communication throughout the networks we work within to ensure continued growth and a strong presence.

The Community Wellbeing Strategy will guide Centacare Evolve Housing on the work that is already being done to open new pathways and provide direction for future activities and involvement with all stakeholders.

A Social Impact Approach

Centacare Evolve Housing and CatholicCare Tasmania have developed a social impact approach to guide the design and implementation of our wellbeing activities. The approach focuses on the integration of internal services and the strengthening of external partnerships, with a particular emphasis on place-based support.

Individual, family and community wellbeing and social change at the community level is complex. To address these complexities the social impact approach works across seven interconnected domains:

• Education
• Housing
• Safety
• Economics
• Health
• Spirituality
• Community Engagement

The social impact framework is aligned to the Tasmanian Government’s Child and Youth Wellbeing Framework, Outcome Star, Trauma Informed, Asset Based, Collective Impact and other outcomes frameworks. We use this to evaluate the effectiveness of our community wellbeing initiatives.

Learn more about the social impact approach by clicking here.

Research and Evaluation

At Centacare Evolve Housing we are committed to evaluating the community wellbeing initiatives we deliver in order to recognise the impact they make and the outcomes that are delivered and achieved in community.

In 2019 Centacare Evolve Housing and the University of Tasmania published a Social Return on Investment report on the economic impacts of the social achievements of our work in the area since 2014. UTAS estimated that for every dollar spent through the program there is a $4.05 to $4.30 social return. This is significantly above the benchmark social return on investment used to assess the feasibility of public investments.

Community Housing Growth Program (CHGP)

We opened our office in Bridgewater in 2014 under the Better Housing Futures contract. Better Housing Futures is a joint Centacare Evolve Housing and Tasmanian Director of Housing initiative. Centacare Evolve Housing is building new social housing and managing existing social housing in the Bridgewater, Gagebrook and Herdsmans Cove area. We also partner with the local council and the community to deliver projects that improve the urban environment. Centacare Evolve Housing’s work in the community was guided by the Bridgewater, Gagebrook and Herdsmans Cove Master Plan.

In September 2021, under the Government’s CHGP, Centacare Evolve Housing took over management of more than 400 homes in the Derwent Valley, Glenorchy City, Brighton, Southern Midlands and Central Highlands Local Government Areas.

The Tasmanian Government’s Community Housing Growth Program (CHGP) transferred the long-term management of 2000 public housing properties to Community Housing Providers like Centacare Evolve Housing. The Tasmanian Government has provided capital funding from the Rebuilding Tasmania Infrastructure Investment Fund: COVID-19 Response for the CHGP. So, as well as the transfer of property management to organisations like Centacare Evolve Housing, this means Tasmania’s economic and social recovery is enabled by building more social housing.

Centacare Evolve Housing has proven experience in providing tenancy management and building social and affordable housing. We continually strive to offer the best service and housing for our tenants. We are also playing a vital role in strengthening Tasmania’s social housing system through:

• a responsive and supportive tenancy management service
• a suite of maintenance and upgrade services
• a specialised client support program
• a well-established community wellbeing approach
• a network of offices throughout the state, including a new office in the Derwent Valley
• the provision of housing to priority applicants from the Housing Register
• building new homes in areas of high housing demand, and
• long-term agreements between the state Government, increasing certainty for continued services for tenants.

Community Initiatives

As part of its role in the community, Centacare Evolve Housing seeks to contribute to growing a vibrant and hopeful place that values the dignity and worth of each person. Improving individual, family and community wellbeing requires a holistic approach that addresses all aspects of life. Please have a look on our Initiatives page for the details of our projects.