‘An extraordinarily generous gift’
In what’s believed could be the largest donation of its kind, specialist provider of services to elderly homeless people, Wintringham, has been awarded a philanthropic grant of $7.5 million.
In what’s believed could be the largest donation of its kind, specialist provider of services to elderly homeless people, Wintringham, has been awarded a philanthropic grant of $7.5 million from the Peter and Lyndy White Foundation.
The grant will enable Wintringham to purchase the Gilgunya Village in Coburg, an aged care facility owned by Wesley Mission Victoria. Gilgunya consists of 51 bedroom low care hostel units and 12 two-bedroom independent living units together with supporting facilities.
Bryan Lipmann, Wintringham CEO, said while the grant would make Wintringham stronger, the fundamental difference was the net increase in the number of beds available to financially disadvantaged older people.
“That’s the biggest difference, there’s such a shortage at the moment,” he told Australian Ageing Agenda.
Commenting on the size of the grant, Mr Lipmann said: “I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like this; it’s an extraordinarily generous gift from a magical family.”
The Peter and Lyndy White Foundation is a Melbourne-based philanthropic body which aims to enhance the quality of life of Victoria’s disadvantaged and vulnerable community members, in particular, the homeless.
Mr Lipmann said Wintringham faced huge difficulties because it had almost no bonds, due to the poverty of its clients. “So we find it difficult to grow a new service, compared to people in the aged care industry who leverage bonds or take a large debt and service it through bonds. We can’t do that.”
The acquisition of Gilgunya Village brings to six the number of residential facilities operated by Wintringham, the largest provider of services to homeless seniors in Australia. It also has about 600 houses and 650 home care packages, Mr Lipmann said.
Announcing the grant today, Wintringham said all existing residents and staff at Gilgunya Village were assured they will be able to transfer to Wintringham should they choose.
“Wintringham’s demonstrably effective and financially efficient programs have attracted a consistent flow of philanthropic and government funds. We have used these funds to make an enduring difference to the lives of untold numbers of aged people and have thereby permanently altered the landscape of disadvantage in Victoria,” the organisation said.
“The Peter and Lyndy White Foundation hopes that their donation will encourage other trusts and individuals to reduce our homeless problem. Wintringham for its part recommits to providing the finest quality aged care and housing services to the elderly poor.
“It is extremely unlikely that a grant of this size has ever previously been made to the elderly homeless either here in Australia or indeed internationally.”
