PROJECT OHANA: YOUTH HOMELESSNESS Raising awareness and raising funds to support Porchlight
Last year, I started a service project with a few friends, driven by a shared desire to educate ourselves on the realities of youth homelessness, and raise awareness among our peers. Collaborating with Porchlight, a Kent charity tackling homelessness, poverty and inequality, we explored the gaps in our understanding by reflecting on our collective experiences and looking for ways to help students connect more meaningfully with a community we often saw, but never truly engaged with.
We chose the name Project Ohana to describe our work.‘ Ohana’ is a Hawaiian word meaning‘ family’. The issue of homelessness, particularly among young people, is so often overlooked around us. Most of us are incredibly lucky, being sheltered, detached from the tremendous physical and emotional struggles people face with homelessness. A large part of understanding comes from experience, so in the hopes of deepening our understanding, we decided to organise a sleepout on campus, supporting Porchlight’ s Big Sleep Out campaign. Gathering a group of 40 like-minded students and teachers, we spent a night outside in early October, along with many others across the county who were also sleeping out for this vital cause.
The sleepout opened our eyes in ways we hadn’ t anticipated. Although we had theoretically understood the severity of the situation, experiencing it was an entirely different matter. Throughout the night, every minute seemed like an hour; even with relatively mild weather, the biting cold and sharp winds reminded us of how vulnerable we truly were. Some of us struggled to sleep on the hard, uneven ground, while others couldn’ t help but feel unnerved by the eerie silence of the empty campus. Needless to say, we were all relieved when morning finally broke. Although we knew that our glimpse into sleeping rough was worlds away from the harsh realities faced by those without a home, we emerged with deeper insight, a greater appreciation for everything we have, and a heightened sympathy for those grappling with homelessness.
From the sleepout, we raised £ 1500 in donations, all of which went towards supporting Porchlight’ s mission and making a tangible difference in the lives of young people facing homelessness. As we continued our support, Sevenoaks hosted a Christmas Jumper Day, and we also held a charity concert, Rock the House Down, with musicians and bands from all year groups, raising over £ 2250 for Porchlight. In the Summer term, representatives from Porchlight visited the school to run a day of activities for Year 9 during Enrichment Week.
We’ re incredibly grateful for the support of our friends, family and teachers who rallied behind us on this journey, and for everyone who donated to show their support. We hope to inspire like-minded students to carry this project forward, and to continue doing our part to make someone else’ s life a little better in any way that we can.
Rae-En Lim, Upper Sixth
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