Our story

How it all began

After years of youth and student support work in schools as chaplains, founders Grant and Kym Austin noticed that many of the children sent out of class were not 'bad' or 'dumb' kids but were often children who were dealing with the impact of personal trauma.

In 2012 they established Mimi’s House through Hope Centre Services as a direct response to a local community need for support services for children who are at risk of disengaging from education.  

Since then, over 300 children have benefitted from the program, many of whom are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

The program has continued to grow in capacity each year and we now partner with five different schools, working with 50 children across five days a week. Mimi’s House has also grown to include a second-year mentoring program where children are matched with screened and trained community mentors.

In 2017 we began a venture philanthropy partnership with Social Ventures Australia (SVA) to further sustainably scale and develop the Mimi’s House program in readiness for expansion. Through this partnership we commenced undertaking a study with the University of Queensland that will enable us to determine and articulate long-term impacts and benefits of Mimi’s House for children and the broader impacts this has in both schools and the wider community.

It is our hope and intention that the Mimi’s House program can be expanded to other regions of need around Australia.