Origami houses help raise awareness this Homelessness Week

Published on 05 August 2024

Homelessness Week this year runs from Monday 5 to Sunday 11 August, and offers the chance to raise much needed awareness of what communities and governments can do to help end homelessness.

At the last Census, 30,660 Victorians were without a home, with 544 people counted as homeless in Kingston. Of these people, 53 were over the age of 55.

The term “homelessness” refers to more than just “rooflessness”, with homelessness meaning a person is without a secure, stable and private space to live.

The majority of people without a home live in temporary, insecure or unsafe housing situations, such as rooming houses, cars or government-funded crisis accommodation, or they may be staying with family or friends.

The top three reasons for people seeking homelessness assistance in Victoria are:

- Financial difficulties
- Family and domestic violence
- Housing crisis

For the second year, the House at Parliament campaign ran in the lead up to Homelessness Week, and once again the team at AccessCare got involved, led by our Community Connections Program team.

This campaign aims to help raise awareness of the urgent need for more social housing in Victoria by encouraging people to fold 60,000 origami houses – this number representing the number of additional social homes that are urgently needed in Victoria.

These origami houses have been displayed in homelessness and allied organisations throughout Homelessness Week (including in AccessCare’s office), with 6,000 of these origami houses placed on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House on Wednesday 31 July. 

Across not only AccessCare but various other City of Kingston teams and departments, including our Family, Youth and Children's Services holiday program, we were able to fold more than 880 origami houses.

AccessCare’s Community Connections Program supports people living in the Kingston and Bayside council areas who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. 

More information 

If you are homeless or at risk of homelessness, you can get help by calling 1800 825 955 (free call, 24/7).