Melbourne City Mission's Sleep Out

Spend The Night At The MCG and Put An End to Youth Homelessness

On Thursday 17th of May a record number of Melbournians will spend the night on the cold concrete floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with only the comfort of a cardboard box, in a public show of support for young people experiencing homelessness in Victoria. Recently released ABS figures show an 11 per cent increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in Victoria on Census night in 2016: 24,817 Victorians. Two of every five Victorians counted as homeless are under the age of 25.

Homelessness can be a traumatic, dangerous and isolating experience. Young people without a safe place to spend the night may be forced into unsafe housing, someone else's couch or, in some cases, out on the street. Homelessness can have an ongoing impact on a young person's mental health, ability to gain employment and education and physical health.

Sleep at the -G participants will spend the night in solidarity with the thousands of young people across Victoria without a safe place to spend the night, learning about the issues facing young people with no place to call home, and experiencing a small glimpse of what it's like to sleep rough.

Young people with a lived experience of homelessness as well as staff working on-the-ground will share their experiences on the current state of homelessness across Victoria.

Funds raised this year will go towards building a world-first fully integrated response to youth homelessness: A 24/7 centre providing emergency accommodation, health, education and employment support all under the same roof. Based on King Street in the Melbourne CBD, Frontyard Youth Services is expanding to include a crisis accommodation service, boosting its current supports to young people, to break the cycle of homelessness and prevent them from falling into long term adult homelessness.

"These vital funds are needed to better support young people through their immediate crisis and then work with them to resolve the issues underlying their homelessness," Melbourne City Mission's CEO said.

"Responding to youth homelessness requires more than just putting a roof over a young person's head."