Origami houses to represent housing need in Victoria

Maryborough District Health Service (MDHS) has teamed up with the Victorian Homelessness Network to highlight the scale of Victoria’s homelessness crisis by creating hundreds of origami houses to be presented to State Parliament.

This is part of a fun Houses at Parliament initiative to raise awareness about the serious topic of homelessness in Victoria.

The overall target is to fold and deliver 6,000 origami houses, which reflects the need for at least 6,000 new social houses a year in Victoria.

The houses will be presented at State Parliament on 2 August in the lead up to Homelessness Week (6-13 August).

MDHS hosted two working bees to enable staff members to get involved and also acted as a collection point for community members to drop off origami houses.

Patients on the ward and residents in the health service’s aged care communities also enjoyed folding houses as part of the campaign.

“We are proud to be part of this initiative and have collectively folded more than 1,700 houses, far exceeding our initial target of 600,” said Kylie Monk, MDHS Housing Support Worker.

“MDHS plays an active role in raising awareness about the housing crisis in Victoria on behalf of our clients.

“We see first-hand the immense challenges faced by our community in accessing affordable housing.

“This growing problem is happening right here in our community. People are living in their cars, staying on a friend’s couch, in short term accommodation, or have nowhere to go.

“The main causes are family violence, financial difficulties and the housing crisis,” said Ms Monk.

MDHS is proud to join together with regional partners, to call on the state and federal governments to create more social and affordable housing to fill this need.

For more information, visit the Victorian Homelessness Network website.