Leading Adelaide charity HYPA is claiming 10 October’s World Homeless Day as Couch Day in Melbourne and Adelaide to shine a spotlight on couch surfing as a prevalent but largely hidden form of youth homelessness in Australia.
HYPA (Helping Young People Achieve) is a key service provided by SYC, a community organization centred on employment, training and youth services. It has developed Couch Day as a means of giving Australia’s young people a voice about homelessness and exclusion.
An estimated 34,000 young people are homeless in Australia, including about 3000 young South Australians, with about 87 per cent couch surfing at some stage, according to Paul Edginton, chief executive officer of SYC.
“Many people immediately think of someone sleeping on the street when they hear ‘homeless’, which leads to couch surfing being hidden from public perception and view, but it is a serious form of homelessness among young people and needs to be brought to the fore” said Mr Edginton.
Minister for Youth, Hon Ian Hunter MLC said today youth homelessness is a challenging issue that is not often solved by simply putting a roof over someone’s head.
“It is imperative, as a Government, that we try and get to the heart of youth homelessness and understand why and how it occurs, which is why we’ve introduced programs that offer young people vital life skills, education, employment opportunities and a place to call home.
“Initiatives like Couch Day help to raise awareness and understanding and play an important role in developing positive discussion and learning. I encourage everyone to participate in the various activities and to “like” HYPA’s Couch Day Facebook page and help spread the word” said Mr Hunter.
Dozens of couches symbolizing couch surfing will feature in an installation in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall and Victoria Square and Melbourne’s Federation Square from 7am on Couch Day.
The couches will carry messages from young people who’ve experienced homelessness and couch surfing, audio and visual recordings of young people’s stories, free coffee and an opportunity to learn more about HYPA services.
The public is encouraged to attend Adelaide’s Couch Day activities at Rundle Mall, under the canopy at the Gawler Place intersection.
Mr Edginton said that his organisation developed the Couch Day concept to provide a forum for the “voices” of couch surfing to be heard.
“All we ask is that Adelaideans grab a free coffee, take a seat on one of our couches in Rundle Mall on Wednesday morning, listen to real stories of real people – and take the conversation from there to help us spread the word” he said.
“For some, couch surfing is a cheap form of accommodation when travelling or crashing on a friend’s couch after a big night out, but for many, it’s a way of life they would rather not experience.”
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- Couch Surfing and the young homeless (radioadelaidebreakfast.wordpress.com)
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