Laurence Charles Matthews (born 1956), founded

Caretakers Cottage Caretakers Cottage is an Australian non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Sydney assisting children and young adults facing homelessness. Caretakers Cottage is funded by the New South Wales Department of Family and Community Servic ...

a youth homelessness service in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

and currently serves as CEO.Howe, Megan. "Paddington Youth Refuge Faces The Threat Of Eviction." ''Sydney Morning Herald''. Fairfax Media. 10 November 1988. Laurie was also a founding member

Yfoundations Yfoundations is a peak body organisation of youth homelessness services in New South Wales, Australia. For over 40 years, Yfoundations has served as the NSW peak body representing children and young people at risk of and experiencing homelessness, ...

, a peak body organisation for youth homelessness in New South Wales.Coffey, Michael
"What Ever Happened to the Revolution? Activism and the Early Days of Youth Refuges in NSW."
''Parity''. Volume 19, Issue 10. Another Country: Histories of Homelessness. Council to Homeless Persons. (2006): 23-25. and has served on the Yfoundations board for a number of years between 1989 and 2011.''Annual Report 2009''.
Youth Accommodation Association. 2009''Annual Report 2010''.
Youth Accommodation Association. 2010.''Annual Report 2011''.
Yfoundations. 2011. Laurie also serves on the board of

Southern Youth and Family Services Southern Youth and Family Services (SYFS) is a non-profit organisation which operates a number of youth homelessness programs in regional New South Wales, Australia. Among the organisation's program is a crisis youth refuge in Wollongong, a yout ...

, a homelessness service based in Wollongong, New South Wales."Our Board."
Southern Youth and Family Services. Accessed 1 June 2015.

Biography

Laurie Matthews is the son of Reverend Rex Matthews and Gwenneth Joy ("Gwen") Matthews. Laurie is married to Sara Matthews and has two brothers and one sister."Gwenneth Matthews Notice."
''Sydney Morning Herald''. 14 October 2014. Accessed 10 June 2015. Laurie was born in Camperdown and his family moved to the Eastern Suburbs around 1970. Laurie attended Newington College and began working after school in his local neighbourhood at the Holdsworth Street Playground (now
Holdsworth Community Centre
. Under his father's influence, Laurie began working in the social welfare sector.Giuffré, Melanie
"Bondi Local Profile: Laurie Matthews."
''Bondi Fresh Daily''. 18 December 2015. Accessed 28 April,, 2016. Laurie's father, Rex Matthews, was the minister of the Uniting Church in Paddington,Berryman, Nancy. "Reverend Rex Battling On." ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. 2 November 1980. Fairfax Media. chaplain at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and

Camperdown Children's Hospital The Children's Hospital at Westmead (formerly Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children) is a children's hospital in Western Sydney. The hospital was founded in 1880 as "The Sydney Hospital for Sick Children". Its name was changed to the "Royal Al ...

, as well as a journalist and news sub-editor for '' The Australian''."Minister of Many Parts". ''The Paddington Paper'' Vol. 3, No. 9. September 1974. Laurie's brother Peter Matthews also served on the board of Yfoundations, from 1982-83 as treasurer and 1984 as a board member.

Career

Caretakers Cottage

Laurie together with his wife Sara Matthews, founded the Caretakers Cottage youth refuge in 1977.Berryman, Nancy
"Couple Run a Refuge for Teenagers."
''The Sun Herald''. 29 July 1979Legge, Kate. "The Attack on Parental Power." ''The Weekend Australian''. August 13–14, 1994.Karp, Paul and Michael Saf
"How Sydney's overheated housing market keeps young people on the streets."
''The Guardian''. Saturday 13 February 2016. At the time, funding for the refuge came from the parish's Village Church Centre, however, Laurie and Sara ran the refuge for little and often no pay. Laurie later assumed the role of CEO of the organisation. Laurie had previously helped set up a local teen drop-in centre ("The Club") from 1972 until it merged into Caretakers Cottage several years later.Bub, Adam. "Hope for the Homeless." ''SX News''. Wednesday, 7 May 2008.

Phone-A-Home

In the early 1980s, Laurie had established an accommodation referral service, "Phone-A-Home," utilizing a computerized system of shared accommodation options in the local area. The project allowed callers to seek accommodation while filtering for particular preferences such as "non-smokers, vegetarians, same musical interests."

Other organisations

In addition to serving as CEO of Caretakers Cottage, Laurie also serves on the board of

, a service based in Wollongong. Mr. Matthews was also a founding member

, a peak body organisation for youth homelessness in New South Wales, and has served on its board during the years of 1989, 1997, 2003 through 2008, 2010, and 2011.

In the media

Laurie Matthews has been cited by the Australian media throughout his career on issues of youth homelessness. His statements in the press include the prevalence of drug use among homeless youth,Tedeschi, Claire
"Drugs: Are Kids Waking Up?"
''The Sydney Morning Herald''. 28 June 1981. the lack of accommodation for homeless youth under the age of 16, on the close link between youth issues with the Ministry for Education (as opposed to the Ministry for Community Services), on the placement of (and the high costs associated with 24-hour supervision of) children in temporary hotel accommodation, following closure of the Ormond and Minali institutions (the last two state-run institutions for children in New South Wales), and on the closure of the Kings Cross and Central Sydney Adolescent Unit (KXCSAU), a service opened by the Department of Family and Community Services in 1986 and threatened with closure in 2012.

Awards

In 2015, Laurie Matthews was awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award by

Youth Action Youth Action is the peak body organisation for young people and youth services in New South Wales, Australia.Caretakers Cottage Caretakers Cottage is an Australian non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Sydney assisting children and young adults facing homelessness. Caretakers Cottage is funded by the New South Wales Department of Family and Community Servic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Laurie 1956 births Homelessness activists Australian activists People from Sydney Youth activists Australian chief executives Living people People educated at Newington College