Business, community and government leaders have been encouraged to spend a night sleeping rough to raise vital funds to support the homeless.
Vinnies Queensland is calling on officials to sleep on the sand outside Maroochydore Surf Club on Thursday, June 20, for the CEO Sleepout.
With a fundraising goal of more than $200,000, this year’s efforts will support safe and affordable housing solutions for the community, as requests for assistance continue to skyrocket.
Vinnies Sunshine Coast president Beryl Rowan urged local CEOs and business leaders to step up and sleep out, as the charity continued to witness the escalating need for affordable and secure housing.
“Across the Sunshine Coast, we continue to see the terrible impacts of the housing crisis on the community as we speak with families sleeping in their cars or in tents on the street as rent prices increase while affordable and emergency housing options remain at capacity,” she said.
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“While we acknowledge this is not an easy problem to solve, we must rally behind the vulnerable members of our community and do our part in ending the homelessness crisis on the Sunshine Coast.
“I encourage our community to participate or donate to this year’s Sleepout, as the funds raised will go towards providing secure and safe accommodation for those experiencing homelessness.”
Vinnies Queensland member and CEO Sleepout Sunshine Coast chair Alain Pitot.
The Sunshine Coast Business Council has taken up the challenge Vinnies faced by Vinnies trying to help those in need and is aiming to set a new record Sleepout record for its team
After raising just over $50,000 last year, the Business Council is aiming for $65,000 and chair Sandy Zubrinich has encouraged more local business and community leaders to get involved.
“It’s no secret that the Sunshine Coast is facing an affordable housing crisis – Vinnies tell us rent costs increased by an average of 6.7 per cent across the Sunshine Coast in the last 12 months and by more than 9.3 per cent in the last three years – exacerbating the struggle for many in our community to secure stable housing.
“Official numbers tell us over 122,000 Australians are homeless, including more than 1200 people on the Sunshine Coast, but given the ongoing housing crisis, we suspect the actual number is much higher.”
SCBC members participating in this year’s Vinnies’s CEO Sleepout include Habitance Director Alex Hoffman, Caloundra Chamber of Commerce CEO Brady Sullivan, Food and Agribusiness Network CEO Nicole McNaughton and Covey Associates Structural Engineer Jack Whaley, Covey and Associates director Kristine Hazlewood, and Stockland director Adrian Allen, in his fifth Sleepout.
“I’ve been doing it because homelessness is such a terrible infliction on our society and if you don’t do the Sleepout, you don’t know how terrible it is,” Mr Allen said.
Additional CEO Sleepout events will be held in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, as well as community sleepouts across regional Queensland.
For more information or to register for the 2024 Sleepout, visit CEO Sleepout.
To support the Sunshine Coast Business Council team in the Sleepout, go to www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/sunshinecoastbusinesscouncilfriends.
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