By Abbey Cannan
“Don’t look away” was the advice Vinnies Youth Homeless Support Worker Dean Hanley gave the crowd at the Vinnies CEO Sleepout in Noosa on Thursday 23 June.
Each year, the Vinnies CEO Sleepout calls on participants to spend the night sleeping rough on one of the coldest nights of the year to raise vital funds and awareness for homelessness support.
The Sleepout was held for the first time at the Noosa Heads Surf Lifesaving Club, where the Sunshine Coast team slept on the beach and together raised $188,086 for the cause.
Noosa Mayor Clare Stewart said the region was at an absolute crisis point, which is why Noosa Council has taken another step towards addressing the ongoing housing challenge, seeking community input into its Draft Housing Strategy.
“It is a fundamental human right that everyone be housed and everyone feel of value and of worth,” she said.
“I have a disability. I had a bad accident. I spent six months in hospital. I know what it’s like to be ostracised. I know what it’s like to lose everything. I know what it’s like to be vulnerable and at risk.
“At the end of the day what matters is how we treat people. So that’s why this is such an important cause for me.
“We’ve got our best chance ever to really make some positive changes in this community going forward.”
Vinnies Youth Homeless Support Worker Dean Hanley experienced homelessness for the first 35 years of his life.
“Once I learned to read when I was 36, I thought, I’m going to go and get those qualifications and work on making a change,” he said.
Dean said during his time being homeless, people would tend to avoid eye contact when walking past him on the street.
“My advice to anyone walking past someone on the street is to stop and have a chat. Say hello. Make them feel human and of worth,” he said.
CEO Sleepout ambassador Jeanette Allom-Hill said her traumatic childhood stemmed from homelessness.
“I had to leave my home in South Africa at age seven during riots and we were taken away as young children to sleep in the church overnight,” Jeanette said.
“Our home was taken away and we were boarded on to a flight to Australia. When we arrived here Wesley Central Mission looked after us and gave us a roof over our head.
“That trauma has sat with me my whole life and as a consequence my mum had a nervous breakdown and we suffered a very long life of abuse, both physical and mental abuse.
“Homelessness for me sometimes seems like the cause of what happened to me as a child. So I am deeply passionate about doing something.”
Noosa Council’s draft Housing Strategy will be available on council’s website with a formal community engagement program to commence on 10 July for a four week period.
For more information on Vinnies CEO Sleepout visit ceosleepout.org.au
