James G Pullar -- Paul Harris Fellow Triple Sapphire -- 15 August 2018
James was inducted into the Club in 2001 and since then has served on the Community Welfare Committee(CWC)with great passion and energy. James is also an active member of the Club’s Bayside and Golfing Fellowship Groups and previously the Public Issues Committee.
James is an exceptional advocate for homelessness and is particularly focused on CBD homelessness. He maintains the Club’s relationships with peak bodies and providers in the area of homelessness and has been at pains to ensure that the projects Rotary gets involved in deliver outcomes that:
The CWC successfully used Rotary's Partnerships Advancing Community Engagement (PACE) program to link Government Departments, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, local community groups and other Rotary Clubs. Using the PACE approach, James took up the challenge of learning from the ‘experts’, a key plank in the PACE strategy, and initially set up visits to 13 agencies involved in homelessness in Melbourne. Using this research, the CWC was able to determine the key areas of need.
More recently PACE has been rebranded as Rotary Connects – a management and communications tool to assist Rotary Clubs in managing their projects and being effective in their communications regarding the project. This has involved James in a significant workload developing and promoting Rotary Connects to District and other Clubs in the District.
James led the RCM partnership with The Big Issue – and was heavily involved in their activities, including the Community Street Soccer Homeless World Cup. Through his considerable efforts, over 200 Rotary volunteers assisted with the World Cup when it was held in Melbourne in December 2008.
James developed the partnership with the Home Ground Services homeless accommodation project, being involved in the Steering Committee and sub-committees. He was responsible for recruiting and coordinating RCM volunteers to set up 65 rooms at the new Elizabeth Street facility for chronically homeless people. He accessed significant additional philanthropic funding and secured a $30,000 donation from the Club. He coordinated a door knock of local businesses as part of the community engagement plan and collected books and CDs for a new library.
Through James’ activities we have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Launch Housing to work on the Launch Housing Real Estate Project where we assist in finding landlords for affordable housing and try to convince the ATO for tax concessions on the subsidised rental.
The Rotary Youth Homelessness Project is a combined agency and RCM Corporate Member project led by James, looking at supporting homeless youth in various ways including canvassing government to increase the age of State care, and developing a smart phone application for youth to access services.
James’ multipronged action on various complex issues has made a difference through his own focused efforts and his ability to engage the support of others. He is an exemplary member of the Club who lives and breathes the Rotary motto: Service above Self.
