An outdoor screening of All Together Now was held at Castle Hill Showground last week ( Thursday , 21 April ) to expose the epidemic of youth homelessness in the Garden Shire .

Staged by Saintcare ’ s Youth Rezolution team , the event was held to “ make some noise ” in the Hills about the reality 16- to 24-year-olds are sleeping rough , on trains , buses or couch surfing within our district .

It also shone a light on how our youth can access help if they find themselves in this situation .

The planned fun run was unfortunately rained out , said YouthRez services manager Michelle Comito , but the rain didn ’ t stop some 50 people turning up for the outdoor cinema screening which highlights issues of youth homelessness . According to Michelle , the council supported event was held to mark Youth Homelessness Day and national Youth Week by showing the Hills district was not immune to this crisis .

She said while some young people are staying at home for longer , others didn ’ t

have the option , with few able to secure limited transitional housing .

“ The Hills area is no exception to this crisis with young people fleeing domestic and family violence , kicked out due to relationship breakdowns or even due to the unaffordable housing crisis ,” Ms Comito said .

“ This area has a perception that homelessness is not in the community , however services like YouthRez can contest to this with firsthand experience of many people experiencing homelessness in a range of forms .

“ The stigma of homelessness is older people sleeping on the street holding sings on carboard . However , this perception creates a hidden homelessness crisis of people couch surfing , sleeping on trains or buses .

“ Those experiencing homelessness can look like everyone else without you knowing what ’ s really going on . The only way we can make these people seen is by talking about the issue and allowing people to feel comfortable to ask for help .”

Young people face enormous challenges of high rental costs , low incomes , insecure share housing , and the lack of affordable housing and social housing stock .

Michelle said those experiencing homelessness can look like everyone else without you knowing what ’ s really going on . See break out box for Ivy ’ s story .

“ The only way we can make these people seen is by talking about the issue and allowing people to feel comfortable to ask for help ,” she said .

While affordable housing and rapid rehousing are provided by the government , the community can also contribute to advocating for increased services by starting a conversation locally .

Statistics report on any given night in NSW more than 9000 people aged 12-24 are homeless .

To find out more about Youth Rezolutions ( Youth Rez ) work and services within the community visit saintscare . com . au

One particular young person supported by Youth Rez was Ivy ( pseudo name ) who was 16 , living in Castle Hill . Ivy experienced family conflict within the home which consisted of constant verbal and physical violence from her parents .

In order to keep herself safe she fled her home resulting in her couch surfing at a number of friends houses , this arrangement eventually dried up as her relationships with her friends were strained due to the pressures .

Ivy was then referred to Youth Rez through her school counsellor , and paired up with a caseworker who assisted her to find supported accommodation and living skills support .

Due to the lack of beds in the Hills area for supported accommodation , Ivy had to make the decision to leave her community and take up a bed in the Blacktown LGA .

This meant Ivy had to change schools and learn to build new relationships as her friends in the Hills were further away .

Although this was a stressful time for Ivy , with support she was able to work on her relationship with her family and although she didn ’ t move back home she was able to keep in contact while working on her future plans .