Next week is Homelessness Week – how we support this important event

August 1, 2019

Homelessness Australia coordinates their annual Homelessness Week to raise awareness of more than 116,000 homeless Australians. It sheds a light on the issues Australia’s homeless population faces each day, and suggests ways that we can help remedy the situation. 

Originally founded by various communities and churches who hosted winter vigils to remember those people who died on the streets of Australia, Homelessness Week has turned into a national awareness event that brings thousands of people together.

Homelessness week runs from 4 – 10 August. The theme is “Housing Ends Homelessness.”  The community is strongly encouraged to get active as citizens and get in touch with political leaders to spur them on to take action and make changes to help end homelessness. 

Examples of how you could get involved include organising community events and inviting a senator or MP to join you. You could also go out and visit with your MP during homelessness week and let them know about the homelessness issues in your very own community.  If you’d like talking points, we can supply those as well. Homelessness Australia offers digital support kits and campaigning and event toolkits you can use to help raise homelessness awareness in your communities. You can also use the official for this year’s event by downloading it here. 

How CatholicCare supports the homeless and Homelessness Week 

At CatholicCare, we’re extremely involved in our local communities and we are a big supporter of the annual Homelessness Week initiative. This year, we launched our Shout a Mate a $6 Plate campaign. It is in support of Mary Mac’s Place which we manage in Woy Woy. Mary Mac’s Place is open to anyone who is homeless, needing a helping hand or who is lonely. At CatholicCare, we firmly believe that social isolation and homelessness is a community-wide responsibility, and supporting Mary Mac’s Place is an excellent starting point. 

Mary Mac’s costs over $150,000 a year to run. Over 24,000 meals a year are provided to help the most vulnerable and we need to raise funds to cover costs and to keep the doors open this year and beyond. It’s just $6 per plate so please help. We rely 100% on community support. Every $6 donation received goes straight to providing much needed meals and resources to the most vulnerable in our local community – and every donation you make is 100% tax-deductible. Please don’t wait! Help us make this year’s Homelessness Week a success and give Mary Mac’s Place the funding it needs to keep running. Please spread the word!