Did you know that on any given night in Australia 1 in 200 people are homeless? Did you know that 42% of all homeless people in Australia are under the age of 25? (ABS Census of Housing and Population 2011). That’s why ICYS Ipswich Community Youth Service are hosting their inaugural ICYS Youth Homelessness Matters Day SleepOut Challenge.

The SleepOut Challenge provides participants with an opportunity to sleep rough to raise funds and awareness for Youth Homelessness. Young people and those who work with young people (Schools, Groups, Service Providers) can SleepOut at ICYS on Tuesday night the 14th April 2015. The SleepOut will culminate in a Community Breakfast the following morning on Youth Homelessness Matters Day (YHMD). YHMD is a national campaign to raise awareness and support for young people who experience or are at risk homelessness, and is a campaign that aligns directly with ICYS who delivers a Specialist Homelessness Service. ICYS supports young people aged 12-25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness through their Youth Housing and Support Program (YHAS), Youth Support Coordinator Program (YSC) and Youth Assessment Referral & Information Program (YARI).

ICYS invites you to support the SleepOut in a number of ways:

• If you are a young person (aged 16 to 24) or service provider you can attend the SleepOut – contact ICYS for an Expression of Interest form (conditions apply)
• Sponsor a Challenger – your local school or business may have an individual or team sleeping out
• Make a general donation to assist ICYS reduce youth homelessness at www.icys.org.au/one-time-donation and use the reference “YHMD”
• Attend the Community Breakfast at ICYS (17 Thorn St Ipswich) from 8am to 10am on Wednesday 15th April.

All funds raised from the SleepOut Challenge and at the Community Breakfast will go towards helping ICYS to assist children and young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

For more information on the ICYS Youth Homelessness Matters Day SleepOut Challenge or the programs ICYS Ipswich Community Youth Service provides to the community, contact ICYS on 07 3812 1050 or visit www.icys.org.au