Strategic Plan 2017-2020

Anchor Profile
Vision / “Everybody has a home and a place to build their future”
Values / Anchor values:
  • Empowerment – we enhance people’s ability to use their own resources and capacities to solve problems and pursue goals;
  • Diversity – we treat people fairly and are committed to ensuring cultural safety;
  • Excellence – we work to exceed expectations through continuous learning and improvement

Purpose / “To make it possible for people to attain a safe, secure and stable home”
Executive Summary / The Anchor Board of Management have identified two key strategic priorities to guide the future operations and development of the organisation:
  1. To grow our Out of Home Care services to ensure more children and young people have a safe, nurturing home.
  2. To be a catalyst for the development of housing for vulnerable people.
These directions will enable the organisation to fulfil its purpose and contribute toward realising our Vision. In addition they reflect contemporary identified need in the community and are based on research and government policy.
Anchor has a long history of providing services:
  • for children and young people unable to live with their family;
  • to young people who are at risk;
  • to individuals and families who are experiencing housing stress or homelessness.

Executive Summary (cont’d) / The strategic plan is underpinned by the following:
  • A commitment to work in partnership with government, community and the people we serve.
  • Relationships are the basis on which human endeavour depends. Anchor embraces a diverse and effective network of positive and fruitful relationships to achieve outcomes for the people we serve.
  • Our staff, our carers and volunteers are at the core of our organisation.
  • To build on our strengths and points of difference, being a small, responsive deeply embedded Outer Eastern community service provider.
Anchor believes its size provides a unique opportunity to be committed to local solutions for our outer eastern community. We will strengthen our impact by being responsive and adaptable. We will speak out and influence our community to achieve our Purpose.
ANCHOR KEY PRIORITIES
KEY PRIORITY #1:
To grow our Out of Home Care services to ensure more children and young people have a safe, nurturing home.
External environment:
  • Government policy that has a preference for children and young people to be in home based care- Foster Care or Kinship Care to ensure the best outcomes for children.
  • Statistics which indicate an increasing number of children and young people state wide needing to live outside their family home placing pressure on an already stressed child protection and out of home care system.
  • A sharp increase in the number of families experiencing complex issues including family violence, drug and alcohol dependence and unstable housing leading to trauma and family breakdown.
  • The Outer East is recognised to be geographically and socially diverse with pockets of profound disadvantage.
  • Anchor is recognised to be deeply established and committed to the Outer east.
Internal Environment
  • Capacity to deliver quality responses for an increasing number of children and young people with complex needs through staff development, upgraded processes and well trained and supported foster carers.
  • A group of programmes and services which offer leverage to each other and the ability to respond to children and families at various times of need.

KEY PRIORITY #2:
To be a catalyst for the development of housing for vulnerable people.
External Environment
  • Government policy “Homes for Victorians” that recognises the chronic housing shortage, lack of affordable housing and the need for local community responses.
  • A sharp increase in Victorians experiencing housing stress with more individuals and families falling into homelessness, including those fleeing family violence and young people with a care experience.
  • Eastern Melbourne, in particular, has escalating rents and housing prices with the least number of public housing options. Lack of land also limits new housing and development.
Internal Environment
  • A strong organisational aspiration to take a step beyond responding to crisis. To provide a “bricks and mortar” response to homelessness.
  • Anchor is seen as a key player in the Yarra Ranges as the crisis response service for homeless persons and possesses significant knowledge, expertise and leadership in the community and is well positioned to lead and partner in, initiatives that create additional housing.
  • Expertise and capacity to understand the needs of homeless persons’ particularly young people, women with children and rough sleepers.