Together with our Society counterparts in other states and territories, we raised $25.2 million through the Vinnies Bushfire Appeal to support thousands of people affected by the Black Summer bushfires. Thanks to the tireless work of our members and staff, we were able to distribute $5.6 million in fast emergency payments to 4,285 households here in NSW by the end of June 2020, along with material support such as food and clothing. Further support is due to be rolled out in the 2020/21 financial year, focused on helping communities to recover and rebuild over the long term. See the Vinnies Bushfire Appeal report for more information.

Amid the upheaval of coronavirus, we were able to keep the vast majority of our Homelessness & Housing services up and running for those who need us, while quickly implementing health and safety measures. The Society and other organisations partnered with the NSW Government to house rough sleepers in city hotels, leading to the near elimination of street homelessness in the Sydney CBD. This showed that decisive action to solve the issue of homelessness really is possible. We continue to work with the NSW Government on the End Street Sleeping Collaboration, which aims to halve homelessness across NSW by 2025 and eliminate it completely by 2030.

We launched the Build Homes, Build Hope campaign, calling on the NSW Government to provide an additional 5,000 social housing units each year over the next decade. This will be crucial in reducing homelessness and finding homes for the 100,000+ people who are already on the social housing wait list. So far, our members have collected 8,400 petition signatures and had conversations with several Members of Parliament to raise this issue. We will continue to advocate for social housing until Government addresses the shortfall and finds homes for people who cannot afford private rentals.

We continued to build our own social housing in partnership with the NSW Government’s Social and Affordable Housing Fund. Through this arrangement, the Society (through our partner company, St Vincent de Paul Housing) builds properties on our own land, which are then tenanted by the NSW Government (which contributes to the occupants’ rental payments). The Society provides ongoing social support for tenants, ensuring they not only have a home, but the wrap-around assistance they need to achieve stability. So far, we have completed 10 social and affordable housing developments with 382 modern and comfortable units. These are home to 450 people. We will continue to build social and affordable housing in 2020/21.