Help change a life today

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
30 May 2004

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Help change a life today

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Help change a life today

By John O’Neill

The St Vincent de Paul Society’s Winter Appeal is now in full swing in NSW and the ACT.

The launch was a great success with the Administrator of the Commonwealth, Lt-Gen John Sanderson, launching the appeal, and the Sydney Swans ‘kicking off’ the appeal at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the students of St Aloysius’ College for collecting more than 2000 cans of food to contribute towards our display at the SCG and to students of St Aloysius, Christian Brothers’ High School, Lewisham, and Mercy College, Chatswood, for helping the Society arrange the cans on the field – the cans representing just one per cent of the people the Society helps in their homes, giving hope and dignity in NSW and the ACT each year.

Thanks also to the staff and volunteers of the Broken Bay diocese, Sydney archdiocese and Lewisham office of the Society for all their hard work.

The 6000 cans of food collected will be distributed to families in need this winter through food hampers.

The Winter Appeal is one of the most integral and important aspects of the Society’s fundraising activities, accounting for a substantial part of the total funds raised each year. Funds raised through this winter appeal and the Christmas appeal will enable the Society’s members, volunteers and staff to help thousands of people throughout NSW and the ACT who, for whatever reason, are disadvantaged.

The Society’s good works encompass a vast range of essential services and facilities, from support for homeless people to disaster recovery and crisis relief. Vinnies helps the poor, the frail-aged, the homeless, the mentally ill and those in crisis – in fact anyone who is in need.

Only six cents in every dollar we raise goes towards administration which means 94 cents in every dollar goes to help those in need.

The Matthew Talbot Hostel is Sydney’s largest hostel for homeless men. The main hostel, in Woolloomooloo, has 120 beds and serves more than 700 free meals each day. As well, several

outreach houses provide accommodation as a means of independent living.

The Matthew Talbot Hostel’s Outreach Program provides medium to long-term accommodation (single room to shared residency) for homeless men in the Society’s

suburban outreach houses. In the past 12 months, 45 men entered the outreach program and 43 successfully completed the course and ventured to independent living. This is a great success rate – 31 per cent of the men moved into department or community housing accommodation, and 33 per cent moved into their own private rental premises.

Our Lady of the Way, another Society Special Work in the Parramatta region, addresses community welfare and social services by providing crisis accommodation for women aged 45 and over who have come out of domestic violence situations, as well as catering to aged homeless women. It conducts established counselling programs in health, self-esteem and self-reliance.

Other facilities also exist in the Parramatta region to cater for younger women experiencing domestic violence.

Night Patrol – The Night Patrol van has been providing food, tea and coffee, and caring for the homeless people of Sydney every night since 1960, when a group of young people began visiting people living on the streets of inner Sydney. Night Patrol operates in Sydney City, Parramatta and Canberra.

In the Sydney archdiocese alone, the Vinnies Night Patrol van visits 59,000 people a year, helping make the lives of Sydney’s marginalised homeless a little better.

It is through the generosity of our supporters that these essential Society special works can continue. Thank you for your ongoing support and please give generously to this year’s winter appeal.

Help change a life today.

You can give to your local Vinnies conference within your parish through the collection, call 13 18 12 or visit www.vinnies.org.au to make a donation.

Keep smiling and God bless