Talking Homes for Everyone with Hot91

When you picture a homeless person what do you see in your mind? Is it a lawyer sleeping on their friend’s couch? A single mum and her three children cramming into a family member’s spare bedroom? Tradies sleeping in cars? Families pitching tents? This is homelessness and reality on the Sunshine Coast.

On Tuesday Direct Collective coordinated an outdoor broadcast with Hot 91.1 at White’s IGA in Baringa to raise awareness about the housing crisis and provide solutions for what needs to be done.

COO Mal Cayley spoke to the radio presenter, Mikey, about the issue…

“We’ve lost 5500 rental properties out of the market, some have been sold to owner-occupiers some just haven’t been supplied, so what that means if you look at there are 2.5 people on average on the Sunshine Coast in every home that ends up being 14000 minimum displaced.”

And encouraged people to be part of the solution by showing their support on the Homes for Everyone website.

“What we have to show is as a community we have had enough so we need as many digital hands up as possible.”

Even more devastating are the stories you don’t even consider to be part of the housing crisis. Tony Pignata from IFYS shared how some of the young people in the organisation’s care have been impacted.

“These young people are highly susceptible to being exploited. That exploitation might take form in sexual exploitation or they may be used to do jobs, move products. It’s the kind of thing you wouldn’t expect to happen on the Sunshine Coast.”

A very dark reality check of exactly why we are pushing all levels of government to do something, immediately.

White’s IGA Group director Roz White reiterated why these conversations are so important.

“It’s not a pleasant conversation but let’s be realistic because it is happening, it is real and let’s learn how to manage it, find solutions and avenues.”

And shared, from a business owner’s perspective, how the crisis is affecting staff.

“It’s driven them out of our community to other regions and we’ve lost really good staff because of that and to me that’s alarming and it’s a real issue.”

Throughout the three-hour outdoor broadcast, Mal also spoke to a number of locals who stopped by to hear their stories and discuss his solutions. To really make change, people need to come together to champion a cause, and Tuesday was us doing just that.

If you haven’t already, please visit the Homes for Everyone website (homesforeveryone.com.au) to show your support. We want to see a world where everyone thrives – homeowners, investors and renters. If we can get the right laws changed, investors play the biggest role in balancing out the market.