17 April 2007
Homeless young people claim the right to belong
Every night across Melbourne, hundreds of young people are without a safe place to stay.
While homelessness can be a confronting sight for city visitors, for a homeless person, being ‘invisible’ is just as disconcerting.
This week, young people who have experienced homelessness or are at risk of homelessness will turn the spotlight on their lives, as part of a photographic exhibition curated by Melbourne Citymission (MCM) at the City Library.
‘Belonging’ – which runs until the end of this month – comprises 40 projected images and words, crafted with the support of MCM youth workers and pastoral care worker Paul Turton.
Armed with cameras, the young people – aged between 18 and 24 – documented aspects of their lives on the streets of Melbourne, in refuges and transitional housing over a five-month period.
Shots were also taken on a 10-day Wilderness Journey in Tasmania.
According to Mr Turton, the project gives voice to the ideas that many young homeless people have about what it means to belong.
“We held a number of workshops during the project. Some of the ideas that young people wanted to incorporate in the exhibition were trust, freedom, fidelity, safety and vulnerability,” Mr Turton said.
“The images and the accompanying text are very powerful. It’s profound that homeless young people can speak so powerfully to our city about what it means truly to belong and be a part of something.”
Melbourne Citymission is the largest provider of services to homeless young people in the Melbourne CBD.
These services include early intervention, crisis accommodation, material aid, casework, outreach and refuge accommodation, as well as links to employment, education and training opportunities that provide pathways out of poverty and exclusion.
