Melbourne Airport is partnering with non-for-profit organisations Juno and McAuley Community Services for Women, to host a car park sleepout challenge to raise funds for women and non-binary people who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness due to family violence.
An Equity Economic study showed that each year 7960 women return to violent situations because they have nowhere affordable to live forcing women to choose between going back to a violent situation or becoming homeless.
The ’Live Like Them Challenge’ asks people to sleep overnight in their cars on September 5 on the top level of the terminal four car park to experience one night of homelessness in order to understand what thousands of people face each and every night.
Juno CEO Tanya Corrie said that people sleeping in their cars are often ignored when it comes to homelessness.
“We often associate homelessness with ‘sleeping rough’ in the street. This neglects the experiences of the far too many women and non-binary people who are sleeping in their cars every night because ‘home’ is not a safe place,” she said.
“This challenge shines a light on this uncomfortable reality and on an issue that has been hidden for too long.”
McAuely Community Services for Women CEO Jocelyn Bignold OAM said that family violence is the single largest driver of homelessness for women in Victoria.
“The women and children fleeing violence are the hidden homeless, with so many forced to resort to options like couch surfing or living in their cars,” she said.
“This event is designed to draw attention to the need for more safe and affordable accommodation options to ensure women and children are not forced to return to live with people who use violence because they have nowhere to live.”
Ms Corrie has one message for those wanting to help achieve the fundraising goal of $100,000.
“Dig deep. It’s always a good thing for us in terms of being able to, to support people in this situation, but also I think just to have the conversations so that people know and to not stigmatise people’s experiences of homelessness,” she said.
“Because there’s often a lot of shame for our clients and there’s so many things working out against them at that point in their life.”
Tickets to participate are $100 per person and all funds raised will go towards Juno and McAuley to help support those doing it tough.
Details: www.melbourneairport.com.au/community/live-like-them-challenge
