A letter to our Home of Hope supporters

Dear supporters of Home of Hope,

I want to start by saying thank you for staying the course with us through a long and winding journey. From the outside, it looks like our efforts have come to nothing. Yet, we are not defeated. We trust God for the future of Home of Hope.

Some background and an update first, to bring you up to speed.

During the four and a half year Planning Permit application and appeal process to have Home of Hope established at the old Meander School site, the planning application regulations had changed three times. The last appeal to the Supreme Court by the appellant, Timber World Pty Ltd, against RMPAT decision to dismiss their appeal was heard during the Covid period. The ruling came down in favour of the appellant which meant we had to go back to the RMPAT hearing, however details of the ruling resulted in the Meander Valley Council reversing their initial decision to grant our Planning permit and reversed the approval, requesting us to reapply under the new regulations.

To reapply or not to reapply?

Beginning the application process would take Home of Hope back to the very beginning of our journey and the appeals processes again. Timber World Pty Ltd representatives promised they would continue to appeal any approvals that we received. We were looking at the probability of another four or five years of process before gaining approval. We agonised as a board and looked deeper than financial, legal and time costs; we looked at the human cost. During this period of time we know of four women and two children who died. Home of Hope may have offered real hope and a place of safety for them to exit their circumstances. We’ll never know.

And the answer is...

The answer is, no. No, we won’t be reapplying. Sadly, this has become a political fight rather than a humanitarian issue, with desperate women and children taking the blows. Covid-19 highlighted the state of play for us; there was nowhere for these vulnerable women and children to go. Literally nowhere. With this in mind, and in all good conscience, we decided that we would not reapply for the Meander site. We cannot afford to compromise helping women and children in Tasmania to continue battling for this site.

Finding a home for Home of Hope

On January 11, 2021, we will hand the old Meander School property over to the council. We will then begin searching, with God’s help and guidance, for a new location. Please join us in prayer for direction in this new journey.

Until then, we are cleaning up and distributing your generous donations of furniture, household goods and products. It has been a silver lining to deliver these into the homes of really needy families. If you are one of the many people who donated to us, thank you! Your gifts certainly reached “the least of these”.

We are having a “Working Bee” at the site on Saturday 12th December from 8am - 1pm to ensure the property is handed back in excellent condition to the Council. We know its close to Christmas but we would really appreciate if you or someone you know may be available to help us on this day. Many Hands make light work and we believe its very important to return the property well.

Making sense of it all

One of the scriptures that God gave us through this process was Genesis 50:20.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Things haven’t gone the way we would have liked. We’ve been held up, our plans thwarted. We could become bitter and disappointed, but we choose not to. We know that God is in control. We don’t have to understand it all, but we can see his hand greatly at work through this journey. To date we have helped 136 students through our mentoring program to realise how awesome they really are. We have spoken to over 54,000 students in Australia about the very real risks and harms of substance use, especially to the developing brain. We’ve helped these students build resilience to live the best possible life, one not dictated by substance use. There are so many victories!

So, thank you. Thank you for coming on this Home of Hope journey. It’s not over yet. God is doing amazing things and we look forward to sharing the next chapter with you soon.

Sincerely,

Tanya Cavanagh
Executive Director
Teen Challenge Tasmania