MQI is seeing a week-on-week increase in the number of young people aged 18 – 24 years accessing our homeless services.
Young people who find themselves at our door with nowhere else to turn tend to come from backgrounds of poverty, chaos and violence. Some are recently discharged from the state care system. Many have experienced trauma from adverse childhood events, ran away from home and/or left school early. Young LGBTQI+ people are also at a disproportionate risk of homelessness.
It’s easy for young people to fall through the cracks. Rents are astronomical so even fully-employed young people, who often work low-paid jobs – are in danger of sliding into homelessness. Young people have distinct support needs that are often not met in mainstream adult services. The time is now, to redirect young people’s lives, to save them from being derailed, often for decades, into homelessness or addiction.
Sign our petition to call on the government for increased funding for youth homeless services today.
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For people who are homeless, MQI’s drop-in services work to first and foremost meet their basic human needs; a safe space, hot food, showers and opportunities for social interactions. By providing these basic services it enables our team to build relationships and provide information and advocacy support in relation to issues such as housing advice, tenancy sustainment, assistance with social welfare benefits, financial budgeting and access to medical cards and health services.