In the past 12 months Project Youth turned away 958 young people from housing due to capacity limits.

The letter below was written with young people using 958 words to create awareness on the issues of youth homelessness as part of our campaign during National Homelessness Week 2024

2^nd August 2024

Dear Changemakers, Politcians & Community Members

Re: 958 words

We write this letter with, and on behalf of young people who are experiencing homelessness in your local area. Every single word in this letter is representative of a young person turned away from housing by Project Youth.

This letter is 958 words long, for the 958 young people who will continue to be turned away from housing by services due to capacity limits. This is equal to the entire student population of a High School.

When we ask young people what they want you to hear, overwhelmingly the response is more. More homes, more support, more love, more opportunities, more community, more assistance, and more care.

A young person in our housing program described their experience as being forced into survival. Young people far too often have no choice but to sacrifice their youth, their rights, and their opportunities to navigate a housing system that is broken. A system that is set up to manage a young person’s homelessness rather than end it.

A plan creates focus, focus creates funding, and funding creates the potential for us to end youth homelessness. The NSW government does not currently have a plan where ending youth homelessness is the goal. Because this is the case, both young people and service providers are stuck in short-term thinking and are using resources trying to find loopholes, or creating programs that are putting band-aids on systemic issues.

Listen to the fatigue in our voices, it speaks volumes. We are frustrated, we feel unsupported, we feel ignored, and we are tired. We're drained from being under-resourced and having to turn away young people who deserve better.

We believe housing is a fundamental human right, and all young people experiencing homelessness need to feel it is their right to have safe housing.

We're heartbroken watching young people forced to choose between safety in housing and connection to their community, to education, or mental health services. We're disheartened by the dilemma facing young people: earn more income and risk losing housing subsidies, or remain stuck in poverty due to income caps. We're disappointed with the Government's inaction in failing to realise that without secure housing young people struggle to stay engaged in education and employment, furthering disadvantage.

We're outraged by Government benefits so inadequate they don't even cover rent, leaving young people in a perpetual cycle of disadvantage and struggling to survive.

We're tired of very limited pathways out of homelessness for young people.

We’re concerned that the Government does not acknowledge the risk of harm to unaccompanied children navigating the homelessness system, where they refuge hop until they are old enough to be eligible for independent services.

If you are a young person living in Sutherland Shire or Georges River, you will find that there are no crisis vacancies, longer term transitional housing are also full, and there are only 3 properties across all of the Georges River and Sutherland Shire that are eligible for the Governments Rent Choice Youth program. If you do get into this program you are competing against the open rental market who do not have the same barriers such as relying on government benefits, casual employment, being under 18 years, or not having rental ledgers. Where do you go when everyone says “sorry, we’re full”?

Currently, in the Sutherland Shire, the median rental price is $725 per week, while the median house-sharing price is $350 per week. The weekly Youth Allowance for an independent young person is $319.50 per week. It doesn’t add up? We invite you in the future to sit with our peer mentors with lived experience of the system and create a budget that includes housing on this income.

Homelessness is a labyrinth of complexities. It feels lonely, stressful, and unjust. It's further compounded when young people are also young parents, living with mental ill-health, experiencing domestic and family violence, dealing with justice issues, or substance abuse. Often, in these circumstances, young people are unable to share living spaces and are left with the choice of accepting shared accommodation that is unsuitable, or enduring homelessness.

It is much more than just four walls and a roof that will end youth homelessness.

Young people want you to see them and hear them. Are you listening? They feel invisible in a community that does not recognise we are in a crisis. We see the system riddled with outdated views of youth homelessness, when the stark reality evidenced in our data and stories, is that we are experiencing increasing demand that will further compound this crisis. Homelessness is more than rooflessness. It is not only experienced as rough sleeping, but also in hidden forms like couch surfing, overcrowded dwellings, or sleeping in cars.

We are not asking you to do the work, we are asking you to help us fight for what we need, to be able to do the work in our community. We are asking for improved tendering processes that are outcome based, long-term and non-competitive. We are asking you to consult and action feedback on the failings of the Rent Choice Youth program. We are asking you to consult with specialist homelessness organisations on a plan to END youth homelessness with support from NSW government. We are asking for you to consider unaccompanied children as a serious child protection matter.

We need you to show through action that young people matter. You are equipped with organisations, such as Project Youth, who hold invaluable insight into this crisis. We ask that when crafting policies that affect young people experiencing homelessness you ALWAYS work with young people with lived experience.

Your community has supported you to be in a position of power through trust, support, and faith. Please invest this back into the most vulnerable, young people experiencing homelessness.

Kind Regards,

The 958 Young People Turned Away