New Foundation Pledges $8Million
7 May 2013 at 5:29 pm
The newly launched charitable organisation called ten20 Foundation has announced an $8 million commitment to vulnerable youth in Australia.
The 125 year old Not for Profit, GordonCare, which has been working with vulnerable children and young people, says it has shifted its focus from service delivery to prevention.
Liquidating its assets to create a new Foundation, it says it will invest its $8m corpus over 10 years into preventative initiatives with a collective impact focus.
Launched at Government House in Victoria, the ten20 Foundation says it seeks to break cycles of intergenerational disadvantage, abuse and neglect for children and young people in 20 of the most disadvantaged communities within 10 years.
CEO of the ten20 Foundation Seri Renkin says the move away from service provision to investing in collective impact projects is a bold step towards transforming Australia’s response to the problem of child abuse and neglect.
“One in six Australian children are at risk of neglect or abuse and incident reporting is up 50% since 2000. It is clear we have a community problem,” Renkin said.
“While individual organisations achieve positive outcomes for some, they fail to collectively address the root of the problem and create sustainable change for the greater majority. We can’t achieve change working in isolation, with narrow mandates, and with limited funding and resources.”
Renkin says the current services available and responses in child welfare and protection, education and health, particularly in communities of disadvantage, are just skimming the surface, because of this.
“By bringing business, community, government and Not for Profits together to pool skills, capital, commitment and better coordinate services in communities, we can drive real change and shape positive outcomes for this generation of young people,” she said.
Renkin said the momentum is growing for collective impact projects among the sector.
The ten20 Foundation is currently working with Family by Family and Children’s Ground, as well as with the Centre for Social Impact on a national search for collective impact initiatives.
The organisation is led by CEO Seri Renkin and Executive Director Caroline Chernov. The organisation recognises its initiating founder, GordonCare and the support of the Foundation for Young Australians.
