The Anglicare Sleep Out gave students and staff from various schools the opportunity to experience a night of homelessness. We slept at NIB Stadium on cardboard, in sleeping bags and layers of clothing to truly experience the life of being homeless; well a snippet anyway. Arriving at 6:30pm on Friday 12th August and leaving the following morning, it was an incredibly long night.
The aim was to experience the safety nets provided by Anglicare for homeless people of Perth whereby a Street Connect bus is provided for counselling and support. We were fortunate enough to talk to workers of the Connect Bus who provided great insight into their lives working alongside young people aged 15-19. Pamphlets and flyers include information on how to get help and where to go for jobs or counsellors to initiate the process of starting again in the right direction.
It was an eye opening experience that we will never forget as I’m sure every night as we sleep in our warm beds with food in our stomachs and family or friends to rely on, we will always remember those lack of comforts. Emily Watson (Deputy Head Girl), Phoebe Harold (prefect), Astha Sinha, Jake Alderson, Aysha Cartwright, Tayne Edwards and Nicola Viviers represented the school on a cold night with soup and bread for dinner, visits to the Street Connect bus as well as learning about disruptions and loud noises throughout the night which resulted in very grumpy people in the morning!
One of the many things we learnt is that when a young adult is homeless and has nowhere to go, it is not their choice or wish to be homeless most of the time. It is a result of either family issues, bad life decisions relating to drugs or alcohol as a coping method for dysfunctional family or relationships, bullying at school or financial problems. Authority also has a large role to play in homeless people’s lives as they view them as invaders or intruders on land/property despite the fact that they have nowhere else to call home.
Anglicare is a not for profit community service organisation that supports people, families and communities to handle challenges in life by shaping their resilience and strength to overcome them. We can help by fundraising money to keep the crucial Street Connect bus operating and helping homeless youth in Perth.
Anglicare is an incredibly supportive, selfless organisation willing to make a change in the community, but need the help of the community to operate. We will never forget this raw, inspiring experience.
Written by Nicola Viviers (Year 11)