Homeless women and youth

Empowering Women Through Opportunity and Connection

The George & Jaqui Maree Fellowship, established in partnership with the Women’s Housing Company, reflects George Stamas AM’s deep commitment to supporting women experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness.

The Fellowship provides women with the opportunity to build confidence, leadership skills and community connection. Over the course of the program, participants engage in workshops, mentoring, and team-based activities that help them identify their strengths, develop new capabilities, and envision future pathways.

The Women’s Housing Company delivers housing and homelessness services for women across New South Wales, supporting single women, women with children, and those who have experienced domestic and family violence. Each year, the organisation provides homes for thousands of women and children, offering safety, stability, and the foundation for a new start.

George and his wife Jaqui partnered with the Women’s Housing Company to establish the Fellowship as a practical way to empower women who have faced significant personal and financial challenges. By focusing on self-awareness, skill development, and social connection, the program helps participants rebuild confidence and take steps toward independence and long-term security.

This initiative is one expression of George Stamas’ broader philanthropic focus on education, inclusiveness, and community wellbeing. Through both his business and charitable endeavours, he has consistently sought to create opportunities for people to realise their potential — particularly those who have been marginalised or disadvantaged.

The George & Jaqui Maree Fellowship demonstrates the power of collaboration between community organisations and philanthropy, providing women with the tools, networks, and confidence they need to move forward with dignity and hope.

Open family Australia

GJK Facility Services has committed to support Open Family Australia for the past decade. Open Family Australia works with young people who are experiencing a range of challenges, such as homelessness, domestic violence, substance abuse, isolation, and unemployment.

Open Family Australia was informally founded in Melbourne in 1978 by Father Bob Maguire and Brother Alex McDonald and was later established as a charitable organisation and an unincorporated association in 1981.

In 2011, Open Family Australia merged with Whitelion, a not-for-profit youth organisation that helps provide opportunities to disadvantaged young people through role modelling, mentoring, employment and indigenous programs, and outreach services, as well as prevention programs run in rural and metropolitan communities.

The enthusiasm with which our team has rallied to give their support to Open Family Australia is heartening. We have been honoured to donate to this charity’s fundraising ball, our staff have donated Christmas gifts, and our company provides pro-bono and reduced-rate cleaning services to Open Family.

We are also thrilled to make use of the Fruit2Work social enterprise (operated via Whitelion in partnership with Open Family). Fruit2Work employs former offenders to deliver fruit, vegetables and milk to workplaces across Melbourne, including GJK Facility Services.