Over 70 community members attended a vigil in Castlemaine last Friday to honour those in our community who are homeless. Thirty candles were lit at the event to represent the dozens of rough sleepers in our community.

Attendees urged both State and Federal Governments to take stronger action on homelessness. Over 50 letters were signed and sent to The Hon. Harriet Shing, Victorian Minister for Housing, calling for more support. Additionally, many petitions were signed advocating for a significant increase in social and affordable housing at the federal level.

The event also raised around $500 in donations for Dhelkaya Health’s Housing team, which will go directly to supporting local rough sleepers.

The vigil was organised by My Home Network and Dhelkaya Health’s Housing team. It was timed to coincide with Homelessness Week, an annual national event raising awareness of homelessness and its impacts, as well as the deeper systemic changes needed to address it.

Attendees held one minute of silence to acknowledge the impacts of homelessness on our community. Michael McMahon, Dhelkaya Health’s Senior Housing Team Worker, spoke on the local homelessness situation.

Mr McMahon said: “The vigil gave people a way to reflect together and offered practical options for how they might take action on an issue that’s important to them. Our housing team was there to show support, chat with people about the issues involved and help debrief after some sombre statistics and stories.”

Attendees also heard about the many other initiatives being driven by My Home Network, including action on vacant dwellings, tiny homes on wheels, Homeshare, and the tenants’ rights and advocacy working groups.

The Mount Alexander Shire has dozens of rough sleepers, 78 community members homeless, hundreds of families in housing crisis and a shortfall of around 600 social housing units. Far more crisis and transition housing is need to meet current demand.

My Home Network is auspiced by Dhelkaya Health and made up of passionate community members, locals with lived experience of the housing crisis, and representatives from local housing initiatives, community, and government organisations.

You can learn more about My Home Network on this site or donate to Dhelkaya Health’s Housing team to support local rough sleepers.