tasmania

Did you know that the ‘homeless’ label does not just apply to people sleeping on the streets? It also applies to those who are couch-surfing or living somewhere inadequate.More than 120,000 Tasmanians live below the poverty line, and the lack of affordable housing is now affecting more families than ever before.Sleep Rough is a yearly challenge that sees many people sleep rough for one night at Princes Wharf No. 1 (PW1) to raise funds and awareness for homelessness in southern Tasmania.It is organised by Hobart City Mission, which has supported the local community for 170 years.PRE-CHALLENGEThe 2022 Sleep Rough challenge was scheduled for Friday 27 May and Saturday 28 May.I registered for it on Tuesday 29 March 2022 and spent a couple of days setting up my fundraising profile, which I then promoted on social media and via email. I ended up raising $350.The registration fee was $20, which covered the cost of: • a piece of cardboard for me to sleep on; • tea, coffee, and hot chocolate throughout the night; • soup for dinner on Friday 27 May; • and a BBQ breakfast on Saturday 28 May.CHALLENGEOn Friday 27 May, I arrived at PW1 at 4:55pm and was given a wristband and an event program by some Hobart City Mission staff, who were excited because I was the first to arrive. (All the other participants arrived between 5:00pm and 7:00pm.)I chose a spot against the wharf-side wall, grabbed a piece of cardboard from the pile in the corner, and laid my sleeping bag on top of it.At about 6:00pm, I went over to the food stall and got a cup of pumpkin soup and a bread roll for dinner. Soup is often what people sleeping rough on the street have for dinner.There were speeches and video presentations between 7:00pm and 7:45pm, and at 8:30pm, Paddington (2014) started playing on the projector. I chose not to watch it, instead watching the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi on my phone.When the lights were turned off at 11:00pm, I put my earplugs in and hunkered down for the night.I hardly slept.My piece of cardboard was hard, uncomfortable, and not at all insulating against the cold, which seeped into my bones despite the fact I was wearing a beanie, a jumper, and woolly tracksuit pants.Plus, the man sleeping next to me was so unperturbed by the cold that he promptly fell asleep and snored so loudly I could still hear him with my earplugs in. This caused me a lot of frustration, frustration that, like the cold, kept me from sleep.I finally drifted off at about 4:00am on Saturday, but woke up to the lights being turned back on at 6:00am.After having a coffee and some breakfast, I packed up my things and left PW1 at about 7:00am.As I walked back to my car, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude. Unlike so many Tasmanians, I had a home to go to.Taking part in Sleep Rough made me realise exactly how tough being homeless can be.POST-CHALLENGECity Mission’s goal for Sleep Rough 2022 was to raise $100,000. In the end, over $135,000 was raised.This goes to show how generous Tasmanians can be.The money will help City Mission provide homeless Tasmanians with emergency relief, accommodation, and hearty meals.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• Channel donations (PayPal): paypal.me/callumjjones