Northwest Community Group Inc.

30/08/2026

Please support them to keep them going despite no support from the BCC as per usual

Hi all, This fundraiser is for the renos required to bring the pantry an… Nelika McDonald needs your support for Everton Park Community Pantry Renos

23/08/2026

Last chance!

Support the Everton Park Community Pantry by urging the Brisbane City Council to find a solution that keeps this vital food resource open. Sign now.

22/08/2026

A neighbourhood pantry that provides free food to struggling families has been reported to the Brisbane City Council for being on a public kerbside.

21/08/2026

Help stop them shutting down Everton Park Community Pantry!! Sign the petition!

Food pantries were always something I was very passionate about. I used to load my car up 6 days a week and drive to 5 of them to distribute food. Sadly over the time I did this, the number of them dropped, and I believe none of the ones I used to deliver to exist anymore.

Have no doubts that people power will help with this, I've seen them be allowed to stay once the people push back. Your voices matter.

Support the Everton Park Community Pantry by urging the Brisbane City Council to find a solution that keeps this vital food resource open. Sign now.

12/08/2026

Hi all 👋🙂

I started getting messages from reporters yesterday about this news. I helped a few with some footage for their stories, but directed them to talk to Beau for the latest from the ground.

I wanted to share my thoughts on this, as I've had lots of people reaching out.

This is something a lot of people have been asking for. No one thinks it's the solution, but it sure beats dodging authorities and being being displaced every few days while you are homeless.

It won't be for everyone. You wont see all people in tents moving here, and we shouldn't expect them too either. The cynical side of me suspects the council is doing this so they can avoid another lawsuit about violating human rights because they are giving them another option. We may see a lot of evictions from other spaces once this is up and running. This would be a mistake, this camp isn't for everyone.

My first thought about this was to think back to the days when City of Moreton Bay had a Person Experiencing Homelessness policy. This allowed people to set up tents on public land as long as it was maintained and they were engaging with support services to try and find housing.

It was a good policy, but it wasn't enforced or supported in any way. This meant that the few that didn't keep their area maintained and had poor behaviour were allowed to stay, and in turn it resulted in the whole policy being trashed.

There's no point having policies and infrastructure if you aren't going to enforce them before deciding they aren't working.

They should give this a proper go, but they need to be williing to evict the small % of people who will possibly bring down the whole camp. If this camp becomes a ghetto of drugs and violence it is destined to fail.

People who are struggling with addictions and mental health issues causing poor behaviours need support and options, but a camp like this is unlikely the right option.

We can't think 1 camp like this will suit everyone. This needs to be 1 option out of many. It has to start somewhere.

Council can't solve all the problems, but a space like this is a good start. We will need to see support services, government and community joining in to ensure this can work.

This will be interesting to see how it plays out.

17/05/2026

As you all would know, the Federal Budget was released this week, and housing was front and centre. The government moved on negative gearing and capital gains tax discount, put $2 billion toward the infrastructure that lets new homes get built, and committed around $60 million to a new National Youth Housing Supplement to help about 4,000 young people at risk of homelessness into community housing.

This is absolutely steps in the right direction, and comes after years of advocacy from the housing and homelessness sector.

Unfortunately though, the Budget did not put new money into building social and community housing. You cannot end homelessness without homes. Changing a tax in 2027 doesn't do anything for the person sleeping in a tent tonight.

The public debate is mainly centred around one question: will tax reform push house prices up or down? That's the wrong question. The real one is what we choose to build with the increased tax money.

I want to point you towards some people who have been talking about this for years. Everybody's Home Campaign is a national campaign to fix the housing crisis. They have spent years building the evidence.

Their "People's Commission into the Housing Crisis" gathered more than 1,500 submissions from Australian's living this - ordinary people and frontline organisations - and turned those voices into a clear call for government to act. Their recent research keeps doing the same work: "Breaking Point" and "No Way Out" have real numbers and real stories about what's happening in homes and in services across the country.

Everybody's Home's response to this Budget makes one simple point: the changes the government made prove that the policy choices which created this crisis can be undone. The youth housing supplement proves this. It happened because people kept making the case, year after year. Advocacy is slow, but it works.

The job is nowhere near finished. But there are people doing it well, and they deserve your attention. Go and read their work. Follow them. Support them if you can: everybodyshome.com.au.
The more people who understand what's actually needed, the harder it is for governments to look away.

Social media has been running wild this week. Some of the arguments are worth having, but throughout all the conversations, no one is talking about our friends sleeping rough tonight. No one is talking about the 56,000 people who needed crisis or longer-term accommodation who couldn't be helped because there aren't enough homes.

Every budget creates winners and losers, and this one has set off the predictable argument about who gained and who didn't. But fixing a housing crisis decades in the making was never going to be painless or universally popular - real reform rarely is. The honest question isn't who comes out ahead this week, but whether we are willing to make the harder, longer-term choices that actually house people.

15/05/2026

11/05/2026

Tonight Northwest Community Group Inc. held a special general meeting. We voted for, and passed a new constitution, which included the changing of our objectives.

The objects of the association are to advocate for, represent, and advance the interests of people who are disadvantaged, marginalised, vulnerable, homeless, or at risk of homelessness, including by engaging in non-partisan advocacy, lobbying, consultation, research, public education, and submissions to
governments, elected representatives, statutory bodies, peak bodies, and other decision-makers.

After a long break from my charity work, it came to the time I had to make a decision about closing down the charity. It wasn't sitting right with me to lose everything we all worked for, and I felt like I could find another way to make a meaningful impact in the sector, while still ensuring I maintained a balanced life for my family and mental health.

I learned so much over the 3 years doing direct outreach almost every day. I can now put what I learned into good use by making submissions to law makers, and other stakeholders. I can continue to try to hold our elected representatives to account for our most vulnerable.

I will still be moving into this new phase slowly, so don't expect to see a flurry of news from me. I want to make sure this is measured, deliberate, and sustainable.

We have already uploaded the new constitution to the ACNC, and have made an application to remove our subtype of Public Benevolent Institution. When that happens, the charity will likely lose its DGR status, meaning tax deductible donations are not possible. I'm not concerned with this, as I anticipate the ongoing costs will be negligible, and don't plan to accept donations. What I give is my time, and my perspective, and I give that for free.

Thank you to everyone who helped get NWCG where it is today, and I hope you will continue to support us in our new mission.

No judgement, Only love ❤️❤️❤️

29/04/2026

***PLEASE SHARE***

Every Monday there is a beautiful group of humans who prepare food and head into Musgrave Park to give out dinner and have a chat. You won't see them on Facebook or TikTok, they just do their thing quietly and are there for our friends every week.

Late last year I made a donation to them on behalf of everyone that donated to NWCG to help them continue their feeds. That money is starting to dry up, so if we want to see this truly grassroots program continue, we need to band together to support them.

Any little amount will help, they run this program on an extremely tight budget, and the money donated will go a long way to helping them.

Link to GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/bc2f6e3ef

Bank details for direct deposit:
Name: Emily Dickson
BSB: 734034
Account: 726697

You can also sign up for a monthly donation to help it continue long term ❤️❤️❤️