Homelessness Awareness Week (1 to 7 August) is held annually across Australia to raise awareness of the impacts of homelessness in Australia. The theme for this year was ‘to end homelessness, we need a plan’, emphasising the importance of immediate actions that are required to achieve long-lasting solutions.
In light of this annual occasion, the Second Chance Committee ran a hot chocolate stall on Tuesday morning, raising a total of $451.60 for our parent organisation, The Second Chance Program, which supports women and children experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness in Brisbane.
In addition to fundraising, the Service Group designed a creative and informational installation that went up on Wednesday in the Creative Learning Centre (CLC). Paper houses, each representing 5000 people experiencing homelessness, were cut out and stuck up on the walls of the building to shine a light on the severe reality faced by many people in Australia. Posters accompanied the installation, providing information on the different factors that led to the homelessness of these individuals and the subsequent demographics experiencing homelessness.
Thank you to everyone who was involved, whether that be running the stall, buying a hot chocolate, or learning something new from the installation. If you would like to participate in more activities later in the year, Second Chance is open to any Year 11 or 12 students, with meets every Thursday lunch in G11.
Brittany Anderson (12O)