Vinnie’s CEO Sleepout puts female champions at the forefront
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Sleeping amongst Canberra’s brutalist architecture with some of the world’s most famous faces mere metres away, Vinnie’s CEO Sleepout champions are back to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.
Taking place on Thursday 23 June among the unforgiving concrete at the National Portrait Galleries Tim Fairfax Forecourt, this year a predicted 130 community leaders will be leaving the comfort of home behind and going without to support Vinnies in its battle to end homelessness.
And while one night might not sound like a lot, for 116,427 Australians*, it makes a whole lot of difference.
After raising just shy of $1 million in 2021, this year’s hope is to make an even bigger impact and to shine a spotlight on the women and children affected by the increasing issues of housing insecurity and homelessness.
According to Michelle Colefax, Acting CEO of St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn, encouraging other women to join her in a sleeping bag on the longest night of the year has seen the highest percentage of female business leaders and CEOs in Canberra participating in the sleepout.
“This year for me, being a female-backing CEO, I actually really wanted to encourage other women to come and be part of it,” explains Michelle. “It’s a really proud moment, I feel really supported by other women.”
While the number of female participants in the sleepout are only a small reflection of the number of women who experience homelessness in the ACT, Michelle says having them take part helps to highlight the needs of vulnerable community members.
“Here in Canberra, the homeless—people living at risk of homelessness, and those living in poverty—a lot of them are women,” says Michelle.
“Women understand women, so having a lot of women come together as business leaders to participate in this event helps women recognise the needs of others and do that really well by supporting the community,”
Antonia Marzulli at the CEO Sleepout launch.
Helping to lead the charge and offer their resounding support, this year Vinnies has elected three female champions who all hope to change the future of homelessness in the ACT.
Only a year ago Christine Shaw of Christine Shaw Properties (and the founder of Canberra’s first Social Impact Model of Real Estate) participated in her first sleepout. She was shocked to be one of the only women in the Deep Sleeper Club—raising over $20,000—but now she’s elated to hear that others will be joining her on the night.
“A lot of women probably don’t put that title [CEO] on themselves and sometimes feel like they’re unable to come along…Sometimes we underestimate what we’re doing, and not actually put a tag on it.”
“There’s a lot of women out there who are walking, talking CEOs, they just don’t have that tag on their business card.”
Christine Shaw of Christine Shaw Properties.
As well as the experience of sleeping without shelter on the longest night of the year, another significant part of the CEO Sleepout is hearing first-hand stories from people who have experienced homelessness. For Christine and the other champions, the stories make “a permanent education mark” on their souls.
“Sometimes people call events like these tokenistic,” says Christine. “It is the complete reverse. To actually experience and take part in one of these events, it makes you think differently.”
Participating for her seventh year in a row, Sehida Frawley, Chief Operating Officer of Cloud Success Services SAP APJ, says one night of being uncomfortable is nothing compared to changing someone’s life.
“I thought I’d had a fairly financially tough childhood, but I had what I needed and had community supporters,” says Sehida. “There are so many people that don’t have people who help them out of life circumstances. That’s been the ongoing part of this journey, the connections that you make, but realising that that bit of support can change someone’s life.”
“It’s nowhere near the discomfort that other people who are actually homeless go through, it’s a night of reflecting for me more than anything,”
Sehida Frawley at the CEO Sleepout launch.
Joining Christine and Sehida in the forecourt is Antonia Marzulli, the Chief Executive Officer of Synergy Group. While Antonia has never participated in a sleepout before, she says she’s honoured to be involved in raising awareness for a simple and sad truth: homelessness can affect anyone.
“It’s something that’s important to me as a woman and as someone who’s very active in the community,” she says. “When you look at the number of women and children who are disproportionately impacted by homelessness, and by certain challenges around domestic violence, it really hits home in regard to what could happen to anyone.”
“No one chooses to be homeless… so having that empathy and having that understanding, it’s something that I really want to help create awareness around.”
This year, the CEO Sleepout will once again be a hybrid event, offering in-person and online participation, presenting the option for participants to join the live stream from any location and sleep in their car, backyard, or couch.
All these options reflect the reality for people experiencing homelessness in Australia and the growing demand for Vinnie’s life-changing support services.
“We’re actually finding now with housing affordability, increasing domestic violence, and mental health issues, the need for our services has increased and it’s growing daily,” says Michelle.
“It’s heartbreaking because we work so hard to try and prevent it but that’s why Vinnie’s is there. We’ll always be there for people when they need us.”
For more information or to donate to the CEO Sleepout visit ceosleepout.org.au/event/canberra
*2016 Census of Population and Housing: Estimating Homelessness.
Images supplied.
