"Disastertunity" and the too good to be true

"If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is" is a phrase I've chosen never to take too seriously. Why? Well, I believe a true commitment to advancing the welfare of others calls for a level of bravery, imagination and fantasticalness far beyond the realm of fixed beliefs and a reliance on what's been done before. I can't help but think that Einstein, Gandhi, Newton, and Darwin would have cruised straight past the skeptic sitting by the side of the road with a sign that reads "You’re dreaming", "This is going to end in tears" or indeed "If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is".

On Friday I met someone truly brave and truly fantastical. Yvonne Keane, Chair of The Sanctuary Women’s Shelter and Founder of the Transitional Housing Alliance came to speak to PwC with an already-known fantastical friend of mine, Maria Scott, Corporate and Public Affairs Manager at PAYCE (a leading property development and investment company who truly puts its societal impact mandate into action).

Yvonne and Maria talked us through the Hills Shire Council’s initiative of the Transitional Housing Alliance, which provides safe and comfortable transitional homes for women and children escaping domestic and family violence (DfV). For the detail-oriented among us, this project is enabled by a few things:

1. a local council that is willing to incorporate into its Local Environmental Plan (LEP) (or negotiated into a Voluntary Planning Agreement on a one-off basis) an incentive for Developers to provide (and hold) Transitional Housing as part of a 50+ dwelling development in exchange for a sensible uplift (2 additional dwellings per 1 transitional dwelling, up to a maximum of 9 additional dwellings total)
2. a Developer who is truly committed to societal impact
3. an operator who is able to provide appropriate support services for the families who have fled harm (a lot of whom are more economically vulnerable than socially vulnerable - DfV does not discriminate based on socioeconomic origin).

And the "sounds too good to be true" bit? It doesn't cost the local council, or the Developer (when viewed into the long term), anything. [Contact me if you want to know more]

But Yvonne's talk enlightened me on more than just the initiative. She spoke of how this project was born out a series of unfortunate circumstances in her life. From her own childhood, through to an unpredicted career stagnancy, she's since invented the term "disastertunity" for those opportunities that can sprout during a time when everything seems at its most frustrating and hopeless.

Reflecting on that, I've realised that some of my own best "opportunities" have actually been "disastertunities". Including the time we signed a contract to purchase a house without having secured finance (I know, I know...) and the Bank made me return to work when Evie was only 4 months old as a condition to lending (grrr....). But if I hadn't bumped into the (then) Treasurer's Chief of Staff whilst crossing the street on Day 1 back in the office, who told me that NSW Treasury was looking for a social infrastructure PPP specialist (could there have been a more perfect job for me?!), it's very unlikely that I'd be where I am today and have found such a clear purpose in my work. Or the time I started a fitness business and failed to make it work, which taught me that I'd prefer to take a risk that die wondering - and which ultimately gave me the courage to take risks like venturing into my current role at PwC.

From now on, everytime I use the word "disaster" (or something like it), I'm going to pause and reflect on whether it may actually be a "disastertunity", or hold fast to the fact that, in time, it might be. And one day, my own version of a transitional housing initiative that significantly improves the life of someone doing it tough, will be born.