Hunter Homeless Connect Day Sleepout 2010

A big THANK YOU for helping to raise over $30,000 in support of people doing it tough in our community.

Please find following a brief summary of how your contribution has and will be put to use. It may also be of interest to your sponsors.

Hunter Homeless Connect Day summary:

Around 700 people identifying as homeless or at risk of homelessness attended the second Hunter Homeless Connect Day on Monday 18 October. This number was less than anticipated, but all services reported that our guests were definitely people with the greatest needs, and the opportunity to connect and spend time together was therefore much better than last year. At the HHCD, guests accessed a one-stop-shop of services including accommodation and housing, legal and financial help, help looking for work, study or volunteering, family and youth services, and a functioning health centre. Also on offer: free haircuts, massages, food, clothing, care packs of toiletries, foot washing and podiatry, immunisations, birth certificates, books, blankets, food vouchers and more, all of which was made available through the contribution of participating government and non-government organisations, and the general public through fundraising and donations.

Seventy-seven guests were surveyed during the day. Half were homeless, living either on the street, couchsurfing with family or friends, or in temporary, short term accommodation. Overwhelmingly, the guests surveyed found the day to be both useful and fun. Many said that as a result of participating in the day, they felt more encouraged to access services in the future. Participants commented that Connect day should be held more regularly and made several suggestion for services and activities to be included in future Connect Days, including more kids entertainment, increased focus on mental health, more sporting activities, services for connecting with family (i.e. adopted children), more food vouchers, information about senior social clubs and more Indigenous services.

When asked what they thought was "the best thing about Connect Day 2010", their responses included (in their words):

meeting people, friendly a day out, freebies, haircut, new info, bumping into friends, people to help you, everything all in one spot, needs to happen more often, social, positive atmosphere, food services, free clothes, everyone on same level, no-one is arguing, seeing people care, get you out of the house, street soccer, wide range of stalls , all services in one spot, people helping people, getting out of the house, having things in common, birth certificates, knowing that you are not alone, clothing, everyone connecting and having a laugh and a coffee,

Longer term outcomes are difficult to measure at this stage, however some indicators that people have been able to gain longer term assistance include: 40% (13 participants) of female participants and 34% (15 participants) of male participants surveyed said they attended last year's event, and of those, around 70% said that they had accessed services after HHCD 2009.

In one final 'snap shot' of how HHCD has impacted on the lives of some guests, it is reported that as a result of accessing the Health Hub, seven guests have now entered the cardiac rehabilitation core program at Newcastle health centre, with the cardiac rehabilitation nurse coordinating and brokering additional support services, including occupational therapy, social work, carer support, dental care, smoking and alcohol cessation, and mental health. Additional people have been referred to other Area health services, including rehabilitation and post natal care.

The next Hunter Homeless Connect Day:

Students of the Hunter Institute of TAFE and the University of Newcastle are finalising fuller evaluations of the Hunter Homeless Connect Day project. With the assistance of these evaluations, planning will commence on how HHCD will be delivered in the future. With the additional funds made available through the SLEEP OUT, the organisers can now consider more options for delivering on the objectives and principles of Homeless Connect.