Tanti Park Social Enterprises
The Mornington Peninsula has thriving tourism and hospitality, yet one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Australia. Patchy public transport, a gap between the skills employers need and the experience young people have, and the weight of disadvantage keep many locked out of work.
Hospitality on the Peninsula regularly carries around 200 unfilled jobs. The work is there. What many young people are missing is hands-on experience, confidence and someone in their corner. At the same time, the cost-of-living crisis has pushed more local families into food insecurity, and they need somewhere to turn.
Tanti Park Social Enterprises (TPSE) runs HomeGround Cafe, an on-the-job hospitality traineeship for young people who face barriers to work. Trainees learn barista skills, kitchen operations and customer service on a real cafe floor, and leave with certificates and experience. Another 15 graduated in 2024, bringing the total past 120, with trainees reporting 80% growth in both their technical skills and employability skills like teamwork, goal setting and communication.
Next door, Tanti Community House is a hub for the wider community. Volunteers cook and share more than 150 meals a week through the In This Together food initiative. Local families run the Mornington Generous Hearts food market. There's a playgroup for young families, art therapy and mindfulness groups, and Street Law, run with the Peninsula Community Legal Centre, where locals get free legal help over a cuppa. Volunteers give more than 3,000 hours a year to keep it all going.
HomeGround's catering arm is growing into an income stream that keeps the traineeship running, and every coffee and catering order helps keep it open.
The Cup That Counts is a foundational and ongoing partner of TPSE. We've donated more than 5,600 kg of coffee to HomeGround, worth over $190,000, plus over $20,000 in direct financial support and ongoing barista training and mentoring. Free coffee means more of HomeGround's income goes into training young people and keeping its doors open.
Your first step is saying yes.
Partner with us, fundraise or just say hello. We'd love to hear from you.
If you’re interested in partnering or supporting The Cup That Counts, we would love to connect with you.
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