The Couch Project Launch Night

The Couch Project Launch Night was developed by the Salvos Schools Ambassadors as a way to raise awareness and funds for The Salvation Army’s annual youth homelessness campaign, The Couch Project.

150 young people aged 15 to 20 spent their Friday night at The Museum of Contemporary Art for an evening of music, food, networking, inspirational stories, creative activities and action planning for The Couch Project.

The attendees viewed powerful footage from The Oasis Documentary and asked questions to a panel featuring Major Paul Moulds from The Oasis facilitated by public figure and all around great guy James Kerley.  Attendees discussed ways to tackle youth homelessness within their communities and went home with action plans and changemaker kits.

Our aim was to raise awareness of the issue of couch surfing as a form of homelessness and to show attendees that they have the power to, and are capable of, making positive change with The Couch Project as a platform to do so.

This is reflected in their changemaker planning, below are some excerpts from action planning gathered on the night:

More of: People using positive language in regards to the issue, youth homelessness education, support networks, acting as a united front to combat the issue, changing the conversation, changing the perception of homelessness, breaking stigma’s and stereotypes, understanding, volunteering, funding, awareness, passion.

Less of: Negative representation of homelessness, negative language, stigma and stereotyping, people being less afraid to talk about the issue and being able to seek help more freely.

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Author: Maddie