Corporate philanthropy can provide “seed funding” to grow social enterprises where government is too shy to invest, PAYCE Consolidated director Dominic Sullivan told young Catholic professionals at the latest instalment of the Bishops’ Blend networking series.
PAYCE, a major Australian property developer, was the founding corporate partner of the End Street Sleeping Coalition.
The coalition has had major success in reducing rough sleeping across Sydney through innovation and networking existing service providers.
Mr Sullivan said that Microsoft came on board to develop IT infrastructure for the “by name list”, which stops people sleeping rough from slipping through the cracks by keeping a central record of their progress through hospitals, hostels, and other services.
“What it meant is we can look at that data individually, and at a systems level, and do something. At an individual level we can work with people who have chronic tri-morbidities, often involving mental health, addiction and trauma,” Mr Sullivan said.
“The End Street Sleeping Collaboration brings together the NSW Government, the City of Sydney and other major partners …”
“End Street Sleeping has been a great opportunity for corporate philanthropy. We see it as seed funding. Government wasn’t that keen to fund it – they wanted to see it proven before they invest.
“Now other philanthropists have come on board, other corporates have come on board.”
The End Street Sleeping Collaboration brings together the NSW Government, the City of Sydney and other major partners, including CatholicCare and the St Vincent de Paul Society, and is supported by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.
Mr Sullivan was the guest speaker at the 11th instalment of The Bishop’s Blend, an initiative of Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers to bring together young Catholic professionals for breakfast and talks about apostolate in professional life.
In addition to his work as a director at the PAYCE Foundation, PAYCE’s philanthropic arm, Mr Sullivan is a director and chairman on the boards of several Catholic agencies, and was mayor of Randwick City Council from 1998-2004.