With help from Wyatt

Our Foundation has had a close association with The Wyatt Trust for many years. Wyatt has been a key partner on initiatives related to our work across homelessness, including the Adelaide Zero Project, and social capital residencies as well as supporting us through the administration of the Len King Scholarships.

We recently chatted with Wyatt CEO Stacey Thomas about the evolution of Wyatt and its important work across our community. 

Tell us a little bit about the Wyatt Trust.

The Wyatt Trust has a vision of a South Australia free from poverty and has been provided grants to assist South Australians in financial hardship for over 135 years. We know that an individual or family who is experiencing poverty may have many similar characteristics, but also that stories are deeply personal and what may help one person could be different for the next. As a result, we have been involved in a wide range of projects and initiatives, from paying direct annuities in our early years, to providing low-income housing; scholarships for education to grants to assist people in being work-ready. Financial counselling and brokerage funding have been more recent initiatives providing agencies who already have relationships with people in need with funding needed to respond to specific needs.

Based in Adelaide we have a state-wide remit, and our grants touch the lives of thousands of South Australians every year.

What, do you believe, makes Wyatt and DDF well placed to work together? (e.g. values alignment, mission etc.)

While many decades apart, both Wyatt and DDF share founders that were passionate about South Australia and the kind of life all people who live here deserve. DDF’s strong social justice values align so well with an organisation seeking to contribute to the ending of poverty.

Why is your work so important?

Wyatt is able to provide funding and support to organisations and individuals that is independent and not linked to a political agenda. We work closely and proactively with everyone that has a passion for reducing poverty and as well as providing financial support, while connecting and facilitating collaborations with a common purpose.

Tell us about some of the key work Wyatt is focused on right now?

We are finalising a new strategic plan that will focus our work on some of the most pressing needs when it comes to reducing poverty in South Australia. We will continue to elevate unheard voices in our work, building on the co-design work we have done with women over the age of 50 and sole parents and sole carers. Building and contributing to the evidence base of what works and influencing public policy is an important element while our direct support to individuals in financial hardship remains. Of course, the country is facing a reckoning with the referendum at the end of the year and Wyatt supports a constitutional change to establish a Voice to Parliament and is working with partners to support their efforts to support this outcome.