Geelong community urged to help those in need

VINNIES Geelong is hosting an event later this month to raise awareness about people doing it rough in the region as cost of living pressures bite.

The “We Are Community” evening has been rescheduled to coincide with Anti-Poverty Week (October 16-22), a national initiative that supports communities to have an increased understanding of the issue, and includes a soup van, food and stories to help inform people about the plight of homelessness and associated issues.

Registrations will also be open for the Geelong Community Sleepout 2023 after this year’s August event was cancelled due to rising COVID numbers at the time.

“The Surf Coast in Victoria, from Geelong down to the Great Ocean Road, has been hit by devastating affordable housing shortages,” a Vinnies spokesperson said.

“According to a Domain rental report released this month, housing rental in the greater Geelong region rose by almost 30 per cent…this means that our very own people in the community -individuals, families and children in Geelong – are hurting.”

The Vinnies Geelong event on October 18 is hosted at the Geelong West Town Hall, close to where the first Vinnies volunteers in the region set up at St Mary’s Church in 1874.

“Today, we have an active network of more than 1,070 volunteers in the local Geelong area providing localised, practical support in the local community,” the spokesperson said.

The organisation has put the call-out for the community to get involved in its advocacy work by signing up for this years event. A spokesperson said: “It will be a night where you will be asked to open your ears, tap into your heart and ask yourselves how can Vinnies help me be an advocate for change?”

The money raised will help Vinnies volunteers to keep a roof overhead, put food on the table and keep the lights on for many people in the greater Geelong area.

For more information on the event, email [email protected] or head to fundraiseforvinniesvic.org.au/geelongcommunitysleepout/