Recognising Our Partners Rising to the Challenge When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia in early 2020, the not-for-profit and charitable sector quickly swung into action. The Foundation’s program management team immediately reached out to our current grantees asking how we could assist those organisations to rise to the unfolding challenges they would face. It was clear that not-for-profit community service organisations were quickly pivoting to meet the emerging needs of the broader community as more people were experiencing significant uncertainty and the threat of great economic stress. For example, social enterprises swung into action providing food and other essential goods to people affected by sudden lockdowns and job losses. Other community services developed tools and resources to enable people suffering the loss of income to retain housing. In the arts sector, performance companies unable to conduct their regular live schedules looked to ways to provide entertainment to audiences online, when the community needed it most. Likewise, visual arts institutions embraced digital technology to continue to provide access to art. Every aspect of life was affected, including education at all levels. In response, our early childhood research partners developed research projects to gather evidence about the impact of the pandemic on young children. In addition, to help families cope with the impacts of lockdown restrictions on their children, other organisations re-configured resources to meet the needs of this vulnerable cohort. Leading public health experts mobilised a tremendous collaborative effort to advise frontline health workers of the best evidence-based treatments for COVID-19 patients while many organisations working in the mental health area expedited the rollout of vital mental health services across the Australian community. The not-for-profit sector inspired us with its commitment, agility and resilience throughout the past two years. Over the following pages, we recognise some outstanding partner organisations and highlight their contribution during the pandemic in fiscal 2020 and 2021. We are proud to support and partner with our grantees in striving for a fair, healthy, sustainable and vibrant Australia.
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The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Grants Report 2020–21
