Community Forum on Homelessness: Ballarat Interfaith Network

Ballarat Interfaith Network (BIN), in partnership with Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council (BRMC) and Ballarat City Council would like to invite you to:

Community Forum on Homelessness

Date: Friday 21 August 2015     Time: 6.15pm
Location: Eastwood Leisure Centre in Eastwood St, Ballarat CBD

"In any society, the more you allow people to be marginalised in any way, then the poorer the society is going to be", Linda Dessau, the new Governor of Victoria.

Its estimated that 1 in 200 Australians are homeless and those who sleep rough on our streets, including in Ballarat, face a greater risk of physical and sexual assault as well as deprivation and mental illness. With inadequate funding and shortage of shelters homeless people are turned away each night with nowhere to go.

This Forum will seek to address, through input from invited speakers and audience discussion, the following issues:

1. Overview of the homelessness problem in Ballarat: who, why, where, how?
2. What is being done in our community to deal with the issue?
3. What is not being done?
4. What more needs to be done?
5. What is the role of Faith or United Faith Community in the homelessness debate?
6. Do we have a moral obligation to assist the homeless?
7. Any possibility of a coordinated approach?
8. Whereto from here?

Invited speakers include among others:

• Jax Roan Grampians, Homelessness Network Co-ordinator
• Renay Howard Mental Health Social Worker, Headspace Ballarat
• Bob Maika, Child & Family Services Ballarat
• Lorraine Gittings, the Ballarat Soup Bus

For enquiries: please email or call Margaret on: mflellis@netconnect.com.au  Mob: 0400 650 234 or Constantine: cosuchukwu@gmail.com   Mob: 0435 750 155