| Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.

Ezra 10:4

It may seem a bit of a stretch to associate the work of Churches Housing with the task that Ezra had before him.  Ezra was seeking to lead the Israelites back to the promised land after being in exile in Babylon.  This was clearly a matter of national importance to God’s people. 

This short verse contains a call to action that I feel is relevant to Churches Housing and its members.

Churches Housing is also at a pivotal point. 

There is much to celebrate from our past achievements. We have witnessed significant increase in new housing supply over the past few years, with the construction of close to 3,000 social and affordable dwellings. With each of these, Churches Housing played a role in planting the seed and nurturing its growth.

Yet now is the time to chart the future of how we work with our members going forward.  There are still too many people struggling to provide a safe and secure roof over their head for themselves and their families.  COVID-19 continues to have a major impact on our communities. Those likely to feel it the most will be those less fortunate in our society and those whose circumstances through the COVID journey brought significant loss and change.

On a local level, Churches Housing has also undergone a period of change. 

We farewelled Magnus Linder, our former CEO.  At the beginning of the year, Philippa Yelland announced her intention to relocate to regional NSW.   With the changes in our leadership team, the board of Churches Housing embarked upon an extensive executive recruitment process to prepare us for the future.

I am pleased to announce that Rose Thomson has joined Churches Housing as our new CEO. 

Rose comes with a passion for helping the vulnerable and extensive experience in working with members, navigating complex organisations and advocating with senior levels of government.  Over the coming months, there will be more opportunity to hear from Rose and how she will work with our members to help house the vulnerable in our society.

As we seek to chart our future in this new era, I echo the words of Ezra. “Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.” (Ezra 10:4)

• “Rise Up” – we all need to be vocal about the needs and plight of the vulnerable in our community.  This call to action requires us to advocate to our own organisation and our broader networks – our churches, our clubs, our friends
• This matter is in your hands – we each need to do this and not just rely on others to advocate
• We will support you – an important reminder of the role that Churches Housing can provide.  We remain keen to hear from you as to how we best support you
• So take courage and do it – we need to be bold and continue to move forward regardless of setbacks

Once again, a very warm welcome to Churches Housing for Rose.

Rob Burnelek
Chair, Churches Housing