Couch Surfing for Youth Homelessness
Over twenty teams are registered for this years Couch Surfing Races, an annual event organised by Anglicare NT to raise awareness for Youth Homelessness Matters Day.
“Anglicare NT are organising Couch Surfing races to raise awareness of Youth Homelessness Matters Day. The event will be held during Youth Week on Wednesday 13 April 2016 from 10.30am – 3pm in the Parliament House Carpark, Bennett Street Darwin,” said Anglicare NT CEO Dave Pugh.
“Youth Homelessness Matters Day is a national campaign which aims to raise public awareness
about youth homelessness and celebrate the resilience of young people who are at risk of or
experiencing homelessness in Australia.”
In the Northern Territory there are approximately 3947 young people aged between 12 – 24 years who are homeless (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012) and the majority of these young people are living in overcrowded accommodation or couch surfing.
Young people in the Darwin, Palmerston and rural regions have been decorating couches in preparation to battle it out for the race of the year. Youth services and schools will come together on the day for a fun, artistic and active celebration for youth, to promote the challenges facing young people who are at risk of or who are homeless and to provide information on services available to support these young people.
Anglicare NT is partnering with the City of Darwin and a number of other community organisations and local schools to organise this event. We are highlighting three key messages in relation to Youth Homelessness Matters Day campaign:
- homelessness is not just about rough sleeping, many young people experience homelessness by couch surfing or living in severely overcrowded conditions
- young people need services to support them when they are experiencing homelessness – see how you can help a local service today
- young people need to be given a fair go when applying for rental properties (we were all young once and needed a chance)
