The St Vincent de Paul Society has received a $250,000 donation from the PAYCE Foundation to support the continued operation of its Vinnies Vans in the Illawarra region of New South Wales.
The partnership was formally launched on 9 April at the Vinnies-operated hub in Coniston, south of Wollongong.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park attended the launch alongside St George Illawarra Dragons players Ryan Couchman and Dylan Egan, Dragons chief operating officer Ben Creagh, and members of the PAYCE Foundation board.
The funding will help ensure people experiencing hardship can continue to access hot meals, essential supplies and referrals to specialist services with the Wollongong-based service making a two-hour round trip across Wollongong and Shellharbour to deliver hot meals, sandwiches, snacks.
Now in its 15th year in the region, the Vinnies Vans service delivers food, toiletries, bedding, and referral services across Wollongong and Shellharbour to around 80-100 people in need each day.
The Coniston hub extends that support, offering showers, laundry facilities and programs such as cooking classes aimed at building life skills.
There are 13 Vinnies Vans operating across New South Wales.
St Vincent de Paul Society NSW chief executive officer Yolanda Saiz said the donation would strengthen its frontline outreach and ensure “people can access support that is welcoming, dignified and connected to the wider services they may need.”
PAYCE Foundation director Sophie Boyd said the partnership comes at a time of increasing demand.
“The PAYCE Foundation are beyond proud to continue working alongside Vinnie’s Vans service, strengthening our partnership and assisting in widening the reach of the incredibly impactful work that they do on the frontline every day,” she said.
Vinnies Vans services manager Josie Charbel said 5,261 people were assisted by the vans between July and December 2025, including 672 who received more intensive, wraparound support.
She told The Catholic Weekly the van volunteers observe three tiers of homelessness. Seven per cent are rough sleepers, and the rest those with unstable living arrangements or otherwise struggling to make ends meet.
“During the day, you’ll notice more elderly people, people with disability, and single parents. At nighttime you’ll catch the working poor and a lot of single people living in their cars, or living in housing just below the poverty line,” she explained.
She said the PAYCE Foundation funding would allow the volunteer-run service to expand its reach and deepen its impact.
“The whole purpose of the mobile vans is to make sure that we go to hard-to-reach communities that really need support,” Charbel said.
“By going to where people are, we uphold their dignity and meet them where they are in their journey.”
