Bad night’s sleep

By Tania Martin
FOURTEEN Knox residents last week braved biting winds and one degree weather to sleep in the Sky High Mt Dandenong car park to raise money for the homeless.
The group raised more than $1000 for the Melbourne Citymission’s Hopelessness campaign A Bad Night’s Sleep for a Good Cause.
Mary Akiki from Melbourne Citymission said families and young adults are making up an increasing proportion of Victorians experiencing hopelessness.
Ms Akiki said almost half of those seeking the help of homeless services are kids, either with their family or on their own.
“With already limited government funding and increases in demand Melbourne, Citymission is encouraging Victorians to swap their winter woollies for a pair of PJs or go without their bed for a night in August to raise money for the 20,000 homeless Victorians across the state,” she said.
Sleep out organiser Peter Cole from Knox said although people may think the group was crazy for sleeping under the stars in freezing weather, it was for a really worthy cause.
“Melbourne Citymission supports the homeless people around Melbourne and they do a fantastic job and we need to get behind their wonderful work,” he said.
The sleep out was held on Wednesday, 9 August from 5pm until the next morning.
Mr Cole said to get the full effect of what it was like to be a homeless person the group didn’t shower before heading off to work and school for the day.
In an effort to spread the word about hopelessness, Mr Cole brought along some students from Mt Lilydale Mercy College where he works, and enlisted the support of close friend Steven Longham, a teacher at St Joseph’s College in Ferntree Gully.
Mr Longham also brought along some of his students who were prepared to spend the long cold night out in the open.
Mr Cole said he discovered that the issue of hopelessness can provoke some strong emotions within the community after speaking with friends about his plans for the sleep out.
“I was shocked that some of them (my friends) blame the homeless for their situation, saying they should get a job. Such a lack of sympathy is a sad thing. I believe there are many complex reasons for people not having homes and we should rally behind them and care for those in need,” he said.
Mr Cole said that the serious issues of hopelessness can not be ignored and people need to get off their backsides and support the homeless.
Braving the cold Matt Conway said the sleep out was a wonderful experience which showed him that more needed to be done to help homeless people.
Mr Cole said he would like to thank the staff at Sky High Mt Dandenong for supporting the sleepout.