WALKING WITH THE EXCLUDED
By Fr David Braithwaite SJ, parish priest of St Canice’s Church, Sydney
In conversation with David McMahon, Australian Province Communications Manager
THE CONTEXT: The homeless, the hungry and the lonely in Sydney converge at lunchtime on St Canice’s Kitchen, which has been operating for 35 years. This kitchen, in the grounds of a 19th-century church in Sydney’s Kings Cross, is their safe place.
St Canice’s Kitchen has offered free meals, showers, clothing and vital social support to those experiencing homelessness and social exclusion since 1988. Each week, close to 1,000 meals are served and 800 amenity packs distributed as our team of social workers helps people rebuild their lives.
But my team and I are constantly trying to think longer term. This can be difficult in a highly pressured fundraising environment that tends to encourage short-term thinking.
These photographs depict members of two of the regular teams that volunteer at St Canice’s Kitchen. Fr David Braithwaite SJ says: “There’s no shortage of volunteers, which is a lovely testament not just to the work we do, but the goodness out there in people as well.” Photos: David McMahon
By 2029, we hope to cater to more than 150,000 guests annually. At St Canice’s, we are undertaking a massive redevelopment thanks to a very significant pledge from the PAYCE Foundation. Because building costs and material costs are rising, we don’t know exactly how much it’ll cost, unfortunately. But we’re looking at about $2 million to redevelop the old parish hall located under the church so that it is safe and compliant and becomes an area that can be used as the new kitchen.
More importantly, that will allow for a safer, more dignified space and one that will have a different ambience and less of a soup kitchen feel. We’ll move to have a social enterprise function centre running there in the evenings. That’ll be an expansion of what we already do, not just around corporate volunteering, but also schools-based engagement as well.
Essentially, we’re just scaling up what we already do into a more dignified and efficient operation. But the functions that we already have here – baptisms, parties, gatherings, fundraisers or wedding receptions. – will continue, albeit in a much more professional environment. That’ll allow us a revenue stream to offset the enormous costs involved in the running this kitchen, which at the moment is just not very sustainable for this small parish. The costs involved in running something like this in the current environment are just going up and up and up.
Even our staffing is done on a very, very lean budget, but that probably will need to change. The most important thing is that this is a shift from a traditional charity – which is a wonderful thing as it’s been running now for 36 years – into a social enterprise paradigm. And that is really about financial sustainability going forward for the next 36 years. It’s also a change in mindset because it brings elements like business principles and rigour to a charity as we leverage what we’ve got: this real estate, a commercial kitchen, a track record of service and a plan for the future.
Read how the guests themselves view the work done by St Canice’s Kitchen: ‘They do magic here’
View the data presented in this recent LinkedIn post by St Canice’s.
Photo of St Canice’s Church by David McMahon.
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