Real estate with heart: 20 years of grassroots giving that’s changing lives

A few years ago, Nelson Alexander chairman Duncan McPherson got a phone call from the principal of a local high school in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.  

“She said ‘Duncan look, I’ve got a problem and I don’t know how you could possibly help with this’ but she said, ‘I’ve got no one else to talk to,’” Mr McPherson said.

The Nelson Alexander Foundation – a grass-roots organisation Mr McPherson established to help the local community – had raised funds for Brunswick Secondary College in the past, but this problem was “a tough one”. 

The principal explained that two students and their aunty were in desperate need of housing. The brothers were orphans and refugees from Sudan, who came to Australia to live with their aunt and uncle, but a marriage breakdown had left the boys and their aunty couch surfing.  

After a chat with one of Nelson Alexander’s property managers, Mr McPherson arranged for the foundation to guarantee the family’s rent.  

“I said if the aunty can contribute some portion of it, we will fund the rest to get these kids through school,” he said.

He holds back tears as he re-tells the story now.  

“It was meant to be for two years,” Mr McPherson said. “We did it for four years but we got both those kids through school – I get a bit emotional – then the kids got a job and supported the aunt.”  

It’s just one example of the work the Nelson Alexander Foundation has done in its 20-year history. 

Unlike a registered not-for-profit, the foundation is not required to only raise funds for other registered charities – allowing it to help at a “grass roots” level.     

“We don’t want it with conditions, we want to give it unconditionally and that was the concept behind it,” he said.  

“We want to be local within the communities where we live and operate. We wanted to give back to the people that support us.” 

Each year, the agency celebrates Foundation Day, where each location donates the entire commission from one sale that day to a cause nominated by members of the community. 

“This year we’ve decided because it’s the 20th anniversary, we surveyed our staff and asked them to put forward organisations that have really touched their lives and their family or their neighbours,” Nelson Alexander Foundation coordinator Kerryn Donchi said.  

She said among the nominated causes close to the hearts of staff were research programs for myeloma cancer, Northcote High School’s thriving power fund for underprivileged students, and a number of local neighbourhood houses.  

“One of our partner’s young son was born with cataracts, so he has had a close connection with Cataract Australia, so we’re supporting them based on his family’s involvement in that organisation after the birth of their child,” Ms Donchi said. 

Along with the specific causes nominated by staff and the community for Foundation Day, the foundation regularly works with organisations including Berry Street Family Services, The Royal Children’s Hospital and Launch Housing.  

Since its inception in 2005, the foundation has raised $5.1 million, Ms Donchi said.

“It’s a great joy to be able to work within a space that I feel really connected with and I think there’s a lot of people within our organisation that are the same,” she said.  

Along with the foundation, Nelson Alexander has a volunteer program, where staff take time to lend a hand at local charities. 

“It gives our staff an active involvement where they feel like they are actually making a contribution to something bigger,” Mr McPherson said.

“The collective effort is what it’s about and Foundation Day being celebrated every year is something that everyone is really proud to be a part of.” 

Nelson Alexander’s Foundation Day is on Saturday September 13 this year.  

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