When most of Perth will be tucked warmly in bed on June 20, as temperatures head toward zero, a number of CEO’s from organisations across the state will be braving the elements in an effort to draw attention to the growing number of people enduring the hardships of sleeping out.
The 2013 Vinnies CEO Sleepout will be the fourth time St Vincent de Paul Society has encouraged WA business and community leaders to raise money for the Society’s homeless and emergency relief services by spending one night without shelter.
The official launching for this year’s event was held on April 10 at Passages Resource Centre in Northbridge, a place that provides support, care, practical assistance, networking and counselling to homeless youth.
The Federal Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Mark Butler, used the opportunity to encourage more CEO’s to raise funds for the Society by joining the 44 already committed.
He acknowledged the Society’s work in addressing immediate needs such as shelter and food as well as their broader efforts to assist individuals and families in cutting the cycle of homelessness.
“By sleeping rough for one night, Australia’s business and community leaders can raise much-needed funds that will directly support Vinnies work”, Mr Butler said.
Joining the Minister at the launch was St Vincent De Paul CEO, Mark Fitzpatrick, who described the event as the Society’s largest source of funding and an important avenue for raising community awareness of the reality of homelessness.
He said that over the past three years the CEO Sleepout had raised over $1.8million in WA, which has allowed the Society and their partnership with the Rotary Club of Perth to expand and continue to provide support services for homeless and street present young people (12-25 year olds).
“The event has also provided direct support to individuals and families in crisis and on the knife edge of homelessness ensuring they are able to remain in their homes and not become another statistic”, he said.
The event, which will be held at the WACA oval in Perth will be repeated in capital cities across the nation simultaneously.
Mr Butler noted that last year, more than 1000 participants and other supporters across the country raised $5.3 million, which went directly towards giving some of the most vulnerable Australians a hand up, through accommodation, meals, training and education.
Mr Butler said that this year more than 330 CEOs had already risen to the challenge and signed up for the Sleepout – 35 of them from Western Australia – and he encouraged more to sign up so that last year’s efforts could be surpassed.
“Organisations like St Vincent de Paul are critical to helping us break the cycle of homelessness, and I congratulate them on this great initiative”, he said.
“We believe all Australians deserve a safe, secure home, and we will continue to work to provide affordable housing for Australia’s most vulnerable people”.
Last year Mr Fitzpatrick said there was a myth in WA that because of the states booming economy homelessness was not a major issue, but he emphasised that due to escalating home and rental properties an increasing number of WA citizens were facing life on the streets.
Many people were only one or two pay packets away from being homeless, he stated.
“It is an issue that doesn’t have a single face”, he said. “We support kids as young as 12 … we’ve got families that are homeless, normally its single parent families with kids sleeping in cars … It’s not one demographic”.
St Vincent de Paul society estimates that more than 100,000 Australians find themselves homeless each night of the year. Just under half of these are women; a quarter are under the age of 18.
To find out more about the Sleepout or to donate to the event or to a specific CEO go to: www.ceosleepout.org.au.