Cardboard and Cold Floors...
Tonight is the CEO Sleepout, and I've been asked a few times why I'm not taking part in it this year... 2 reasons; firstly, because part of the goal of the sleepeout is to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness, and as it's a passionate issue for me, I know my time and efforts can be put to other uses in this field. Secondly, so many of my friends and acquaintances are involved that I find I'm encouraging donations to so many others who are doing it for the first time.
The CEO Sleepout is an incredibly fantastic way of both raising awareness and raising funds, and I can't praise the St Vincent De Paul Society enough for both this event and the tremendous work they do every night of the week.
For our part, the Big Bang Ballers will continue to run camps and day-sessions for at-risk and homeless kids in the region, in partnership with St Vinnie's, and we wish all the CEO's tonight a great experience and hopefully not too much freezing wind.
Personally, I'm tilting my hat at Philip Jones and Patrick Pentony, both first timers, who will be braving the weather tonight.
Over the last year of campaigning on the issue, I'm often faced with shock when I quote the figures of homelessness in Australia, as though people can't quite understand how homelessness exists in our Lucky Country... I share that shock, each and every day. It's not good enough that this problem exists. For the stats, click here.
The CEO Sleepout is an incredibly fantastic way of both raising awareness and raising funds, and I can't praise the St Vincent De Paul Society enough for both this event and the tremendous work they do every night of the week.
For our part, the Big Bang Ballers will continue to run camps and day-sessions for at-risk and homeless kids in the region, in partnership with St Vinnie's, and we wish all the CEO's tonight a great experience and hopefully not too much freezing wind.
Personally, I'm tilting my hat at Philip Jones and Patrick Pentony, both first timers, who will be braving the weather tonight.
Over the last year of campaigning on the issue, I'm often faced with shock when I quote the figures of homelessness in Australia, as though people can't quite understand how homelessness exists in our Lucky Country... I share that shock, each and every day. It's not good enough that this problem exists. For the stats, click here.
A quarter of Australia’s homeless are children; that’s almost one in four homeless people under 18. Of every 42 Australian children under four, one has experienced homelessness.Every day, half the people who request immediate accommodation from the homeless service system are turned away, staggering when you consider 12,300 on an average day will be accommodated in services funded by the Government’s Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP). Two in every 3 children who need support are also turned away, as are almost 80% percent of families. The Indigenous population is facing even worse statistics. While Indigenous Australians comprise 2.4 percent of the population, they represent 10 percent of the homeless.
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