Council chief executives from across Australia will join business and community leaders participating in the 2013 Vinnies CEO Sleepout to draw attention to homelessness in the community.
City of Palmerston CEO Ricki Bruhn has committed to sleeping rough on June 20th and urged other CEOs to do the same.
“It’s confronting to hear how many Australians find themselves without a home or shelter each night.
“More disturbing is the number of children that are involved. Vinnies estimate the number to be around 100,000 with a quarter of this figure under the age of 18.”
Yarra Chief Executive Vijaya Vaidyanath will ‘rough it’ for eight hours to raise money for Vinnies homeless services, in the process experiencing the daily struggle faced by approximately 1000 local Yarra residents.
Ms Vaidyanath said she wanted to support Yarra’s efforts to improve social inclusion and reduce homelessness.
“I won’t be able to transform everyone’s thinking, but if I’m building awareness, and people are talking about it, then that’s a start.”
On any given night in the City of Yarra, around 1200 people are experiencing homelessness, of which an estimated 180—300 are sleeping rough. Yarra has five-to-six times the state average rate of homelessness.
Ms Vaidyanath said understanding the plight of people who experience homelessness is very important for all tiers of government as they work together to develop policy and improve support service delivery.
“No bandaid response is going to help, it has to be a systemic response to this growing issue.”
Yarra Council actively supports a number of practical initiatives that work to address some of the complexities associated with homelessness.
With support from local agencies, Yarra has developed a protocol, that aims to help both Council officers and Yarra residents and businesses respond appropriately and effectively to issues related to homelessness through raising awareness of the resources and supports available.
Yarra has several established agencies delivering front line services including Hanover Outreach, HomeGround Services and the Royal District Nursing Services (RDNS) Homeless Persons Program.
In addition to providing ancillary support through a number of services, Yarra City Council is establishing a fund to support affordable housing for residents on low incomes.
The $50,000 fund will be provided to not-for-profit housing and homeless organisations through Council’s community grants program.
