The Catholic Leader - July 2

3 / 28

3
The Catholic Leader, July 2, 2017
News
Brisbane leaders raise more than $500,000 for Vinnies
Eye-opening experience
Helen Yost: “It was definitely an eye-opener, for everything I take for granted each day, like food, water, shelter, hot showers, private amenities that I
don’t have to share with the public.”
By Mark Bowling
AFTER Helen Yost shivered her
way through the CEO Sleepout
on June 22, with just two hours
of sleep, she vowed she would go
home and hug her two daughters
“extra tight tonight”.
“I was afforded the luxury of a sleeping bag, a
blanket, three pieces of cardboard, two layers of
clothing … I had my beanie and my ugg boots
and I was still really cold,” Ms Yost said.
“It didn’t matter which way I put the card-
board, the wind found a way of getting into the
sleeping bag and onto my face.
“And to think there are over 105,000 people
sleeping on the street with less than what I had.”
The temperature dropped to 11 degrees as Ms
Yost – who runs an all-female plumbing service,
Tradettes – and 170 local business, community
and government leaders braved the cold weather
under the Story Bridge for the St Vincent de
Paul Society Queensland’s annual Vinnies CEO
Sleepout.
Brisbane participants raised more than
$528,000, which will provide direct support to
those in need through care packs, emergency
assistance and housing for vulnerable people fac-
ing homelessness.
The event attracted more female CEOs than
ever before – a total of 70 women participants.
“It was definitely an eye-opener, for everything
I take for granted each day, like food, water,
shelter, hot showers, private amenities that I don’t
have to share with the public,” Ms Yost said.
She is a parishioner at St Joseph and St An-
thony, Bracken Ridge, and her two daughters,
aged seven and eight, attend St Joseph’s Primary
School.
A qualified plumber, her business employs
a team of 10, including five apprentices – the
first all-all female plumbing and landscaping
business in Australia – which has been operating
since 2013.
Ms Yost said participating in the CEO
Sleepout resonated in a personal way.
“As a child, my family experienced homeless-
ness,” she said.
“We lived in a caravan park for about eighteen
months and we moved quite a lot because my
parents didn’t have the financial stability to rent
a property on a long-term basis.
“So we moved around a lot and there were
a few nights when we slept in the family car
because we didn’t have anywhere to live.
“I definitely credit those experiences with the
resilience I have today.”
Ms Yost said the extent of homelessness in
Australia was reinforced when she recently
visited Melbourne with family.
“I saw the extent and severity of homeless-
ness for the first time. It is very exposed in
Melbourne,” she said after visiting Flinders
Street Station where many of the city’s homeless
congregate.
“It was heartbreaking. My children and I
bought some food and drink for the homeless
and we gave it out as a family.
“I think that was very important for my chil-
dren to experience. They are more appreciative
of the small things, and the big things we do for
them.”
St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland chief
executive officer Peter Maher used this year’s
CEO Sleepout to announce the organisation had
invested more than $6 million in housing in the
past year, using funds raised at previous events.
The new housing is located around Queens-
land, including Cairns, Mackay, Toowoomba
and Brisbane, and is being used to house fami-
lies and individuals who would otherwise have
no place to call home.
“Brisbane’s business, community and govern-
ment leaders rose to the challenge to raise much-
needed funds to help Vinnies provide immediate
relief to people in crisis, and to break the cycle
of poverty and homelessness,” Mr Maher said.
Vinnies provides crisis accommodation to
individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as
advocacy support, budgeting services, living skills
programs, emergency relief, transitional housing
and access to programs that help rebuild lives.
Fundraiser: Leaders braved the cold weather
under the Story Bridge in Brisbane for the St
Vincent de Paul Society Queensland’s annual
Vinnies CEO Sleepout.
It was
heartbreaking.
My children and I
bought some food and
drink for the homeless
and we gave it
out as a family.