People experiencing homelessness across Geelong will be able to have a better night’s sleep thanks to a generous anonymous donation.
A $5000 donation from an anonymous donor kickstarted homeless program Goodnight Geelong to help provide emergency relief, Backpack Beds to unsheltered people across the region.
The program is an initiative by the national charity Backpack Bed for Homeless, and co-founder Tony Clark said the anonymous donation would immediately fund 34 Backpack Beds for The Outpost Geelong.
“It was amazing…and when this donor came through, we then discovered that just one person has helped nearly the entire Geelong homeless community on any given night,” he said.
“Humans aren’t designed to live outside unprotected, and quite often, there are good intentions from people in the community who might give someone something like a doona.
“It has the potential to be lethal, as quite often people die of hypothermia in their sleep when it gets wet and a breeze comes through, and this is what the paramedics tell us in Australia.
“Not only is it waterproof, fire-retardant, and it rolls out within seconds into a three-windowed tent, but it’s a fully functioning ergonomic backpack, which means that they can carry all their belongings.”
Thirty-seven people in Geelong were found to be sleeping on the street on any given night, with more than 222 people estimated to sleep on the streets this year, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Visit fundraise.backpackbed.org/event/goodnight-geelong for more information or to donate to Goodnight Geelong.
