Crisis agency calls for cans

Jodye Lyons Youth Housing Support Worker at Werribee Support and Housing.

A Werribee-based crisis and outreach agency is appealing for donations.

Uniting Care Werribee Support and Housing will next month host Wyndham Can Do – a food drive event to help the local homeless – in acknowledgement of Youth Homelessness Matters Day.

Donations will be welcomed in the form of cans of food, pasta, rice, snack foods and baby wipes, nappies and formula.

Werribee Support and Housing’s Jodye Lyons is inviting Wyndham residents to embrace the event, which will also feature a free sausage sizzle, popcorn, fairyfloss and entertainment.

“In the last 12 months [Werribee Support and Housing] has seen an increase in young people presenting for support due to homelessness,” she said.

Comparing numbers with the same time last year, she said the youth housing program had seen an increase of 73 per cent in the number of people seeking housing support.

“These numbers are not reflective of young people living in Wyndham who may be accessing other agencies or include the countless number of young people who do not access any support services,” she said.

The Wyndham Can Do event will take place at Station Place in Werribee on Wednesday, April 5, between 1pm and 3pm.