2026 marks Anchor’s 50th year of working in the community supporting people experiencing homelessness, as well as children and families in the foster care system.
In 1976, on a street in Blackburn, a small house was purchased by the local Baptist Church to support young people experiencing homelessness.
The ‘half-way house’ was designed to support teens with short term crisis accommodation, keeping them from being sent into youth prisons, which at the time were the only solutions for police.
The half-way house, and those who started it, were compelled to find better ways of supporting young rough sleepers.
Being a new approach, the small service found themselves very busy. As the community around the home grew, so too did the group of people, eventually forming into an organisations of their own: Supported Housing Advocacy and Care (SHAC).
SHAC was a trailblazer of support and compassion in Melbourne’s Outer East and drew many workers in who were eager to make a difference in a rapidly changing social services sector.
They weren’t alone. Over the next two decades, a number of community and church-led groups formed into organisations providing homelessness and foster care support.
- Upper Yarra and Lilydale Emergency Accommodation Program (UYLEAP)
- Mt Evelyn Community Christian Care (MECCA)
- Knox Community Youth Accommodation (KCYA)
- Yarra Ranges Community Christian Care (YRCCC)
These organisations each have their own rich histories of supporting the communities most vulnerable.
However, as these sectors grew, became more regulated, and funding became more competitive, a number of the smaller organisations saw an opportunity to merge and broaden their impact.
It was in 2002, with around 15 staff members, that Anchor Inc. was formed.
Learn more on our full time line.
A Big History
We are incredibly proud of our history of supporting people experiencing homelessness, and children and families in the out-of-home care space.
Our roots began with a handful of people who stood up and made a difference in the lives of young people when no one else could. They broke the mould to do things differently, in ways that got better outcomes for young people in incredibly tough situations, and they were always driven to do more.
50 years later, the way we work and the sectors we work in look vastly different, but our drive to innovate, break the mould, and most importantly, care for the outcomes of vulnerable young people, has not diminished.
We look forward to telling more of the story of our 50 years over the course of 2026. Keep an eye on our news page and our socials for more.
