A large number of origami paper houses will be crafted and displayed in Bacchus Marsh next month to raise awareness of homelessness and call for increased action.
To mark Homelessness Week – which runs from August 4 to 10 – Moorabool council staff, their children, and staff from Child and Family Services Ballarat (CAFS) will together fold a total of 387 paper houses, representing the number of people in Moorabool who accessed homelessness support services in 2022.
These origami houses will then be displayed at Lerderderg Library in Bacchus Marsh from Tuesday, August 5.
The annual Homelessness Week is hosted by organisation Homelessness Australia and aims to build community support and government commitment to end homelessness.
Homelessness Australia is the national peak body for homelessness in Australia and aims to provide systemic advocacy for the homelessness sector and work to strengthen the impact of homelessness services.
Throughout the week, Victoria’s leading community organisations are coming together to raise awareness about the urgent need for more social and public housing in Victoria, the solutions needed to end homelessness, and to advocate for change through national and local community events, media and social media activities.
This year’s theme is ‘Homelessness Action Now.’
According to Moorabool, the last census data showed that, on any given night, at least 30,000 Victorians are without a home – including 6800 children – and the top three causes of homelessness are family violence, financial difficulties, and the housing crisis.
Mayor Paul Tatchell said that the statistics in Victoria are “terrible and sadly, we are not immune in Moorabool, with hundreds of people accessing homelessness support.”
“Having affordable and secure housing supports better health, education for our children and opportunities to be a part of the local community,” Cr Tatchell said.
Organisations are being asked to contribute to this year’s Homelessness Week by folding 60,000 origami houses – representing the number of additional social homes needed to meet current need in Victoria – and to display them leading up to and during Homelessness Week to highlight the urgent need for governments to fix the housing crisis and end homelessness.
In 2024 a display was held on the steps of Parliament House.
This year, the focus is on awareness raising in local communities.
