By Caroline Smith
Homelessness is a growing issue in Western Australia, with more than 10,000 people around the state left without shelter, but St Vincent de Paul Society is aiming to alleviate this, with its recent Vinnies CEO Sleepout raising $675,000.
The Perth event celebrated its seventh anniversary on 23 June, with 103 local business leaders sleeping rough at the WACA ground in East Perth to raise both funds and awareness for homeless people and services to support them.
One of this year’s participants – Benz Insulation Services Managing Director Bob Bollen – has been attending the Sleepout in WA since the beginning, and said the services provided by St Vincent de Paul to the homeless were about more than just shelter itself.
“I believe the work that Vinnies do in helping the homeless reconnect, more than putting a roof over their heads, but in actively supporting people in getting their lives back on track, is worthy of anyone’s support,” he said.
He added that hearing the stories of people living on the streets had helped him empathise and better understand the factors underpinning homelessness.
“As CEOs we are generally in a pretty comfortable position and if sleeping out for one night a year can help raise money to support the ongoing works helping people less fortunate, then it is a very small price to pay,” Mr Bollen said.
To date, Mr Bollen has raised more than $162,000 to Vinnies’ homeless services through his participation.
The WA event began in 2010, and has managed to raise more than $5.7 million since then.
St Vincent de Paul Society spokesperson Joanne Hill said the event seemed to be growing in popularity, with a mixture of new and former attendees this year.
“We had a real quality mix of people who had done the sleepout before, and new people, so it seems we’re getting the word out,” she said.
“It was a really nice atmosphere, and we were lucky that it didn’t rain like last year – that really lifted people’s spirits.”
The first Vinnies CEO Sleepout began in Sydney’s Parramatta in 2006 – since then, the events have spread across the country, being held annually in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney, Townsville and Wollongong.
According to the last census in 2011, more than 105,000 people in Australia are homeless, many of them women with small children (44 percent) and young people (60 percent being under 35).
In WA, the number is around 10,000 people, with the leading cause of homelessness being family breakdown and domestic violence, representing 34 percent of these.
A more recent event focusing on the issue was Homelessness Week, which ran from 1 to 7 August, and was coordinated by Shelter WA.
Launched at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the week included a policy debate on 4 August, and a free community sausage sizzle on the final day.
Throughout the week, people were encouraged to donate socks, gloves and other goods to a ‘community clothesline’ in the city centre, as part of an appeal supported by the Community Newspaper Group and 6PR.