About Us > Our History

The history of Kids Under Cover - a summarykenmorgan

It was 1989 and Ken Morgan was continuing his tenure as Australia's longest serving president of the Variety Club. When hearing about the fate of some of Victoria's homeless youth, he decided there was a huge gap in the support provided to these people. After discussions with his other board members from Variety, Ken decided to form Kids Under Cover.

The first project Ken focused on was building a house for young mothers who had become homeless. He went about convincing members of the building industry that a house like this HAD TO be constructed. And not only that, but they needed to do it for free.


Over the next three years preparations were made and the crew got started building the house in the car park of a Kmart store. In 1991 when the house was finally finished, it was loaded onto a truck and transported to its new location on a vacant block in Doveton. How did we acquire this land? It was the first piece of land donated to Kids Under Cover by the Victorian Government.

The house has accommodated many young people in its time and underwent a make over in 2004, prior to a young mother and her six children moving in.

 

In the past 21 years Kids Under Cover has continued to grow and establish themselves as a driving force in the fight against youth homelessness.

Some highlights include:

K2

1989

Kids Under Cover begins
1990

First bungalow built for foster family at Box Hill and managed by Open Family
1991

First House built in Doveton for young mums
GTV9 begins its long-term support of Kids Under Cover
1993

Kids Under Cover partners with 21 Victorian Community Service Organisations
1994

Property portfolio reaches $1,000,000
State Government begins funding the construction of bungalows for kids in foster care
1998

Kids Under Cover partners with building company Ortech Industries to help fast track the construction of bungalows
Herb_Girl__Ken 1999

10th Anniversary of Kids Under Cover
Herb Elliot becomes a patron
2000

State Government grants $200,000 towards Kids Under Cover's early intervention work
2002

Rotary Club of Brighton funds housing project to accommodate 5 young people who had been victims of physical/sexual abuse
ken 2003

A record 24 bungalows built in one year and over 175 young people reside in Kids Under Cover homes
A total of 55 Community Service Organisations are now Kids Under Cover members
Master Builders Association of Victoria becomes a patron
Molly Meldrum appears on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and goes on to win $500,000 which is split between Kids
Under Cover and the Reach Foundation. The money is allocated to a new housing project in Melbourne's South East
2004

Scholarship Scheme launched
Biggest ever Umbrella Ball raises $231,000
Biggest ever building project opened in Mildura
129 bungalows and 13 houses being utilised across the state
Molly Meldrum becomes a patron
Meldrum House completed and opened - funded by Molly Meldrum's Who Wants to be a Millionaire win
2005

The Shane Warne Foundation makes a surprise donation of $175,000
The Kids Under Cover Umbrella Ball celebrates it's 10th birthday!
With our successes continuing, the decision is made to start planning to become a national organisation
2006

Executive Director Petrina Dorrington is awarded a study scholarship to Stanford University, returning with MANY ideas for improving the organisation
As a result of Petrina's study scholarship, our Donate A Car scheme is launched with great success
We grow too big for our old office and have to relocate to Richmond
The Annual Kids Under Cover Umbrella Ball is entered into the Fundraising Institute of Australia's (Victorian Chapter) Hall of Fame
2007

General Manager - Jo Swift, promoted to CEO
Kids Under Cover farewells Treasurer, David Lee after 17 years of service
Kids Under Cover welcomes 3 new board members
The Annual Kids Under Cover Umbrella Ball is entered into the Fundraising Institute of Australia's (National Chapter) Hall of Fame
2008

Queensland office officially opened
Kerry Gorman appointed State Manager of Queensland office
Kids Under Cover is awarded the Victoria Day Council Award for a Public and Community Service Organisation.
Four retired board members - Trevor Fasham, George Ermer, Brian Chenu and David Lee - become Kids Under Cover Life Ambassadors.
2009

20th anniversary
14 staff nationally
Record number of bungalows built in one year (62) and scholarships awarded (40)
Kids Under Cover program launched in the ACT
Hocking Stuart becomes Kids Under Cover's first Key Business Partner

 

Download Kids Under Cover's history 1989 - 2009, 'A roof over their heads' by Carolyn Cohn

(A very special thankyou to Carolyn who donated her time to research and write the Kids Under Cover history)