Brisbane Youth homelessness is on the rise, both in Brisbane and state-wide. In the 2017‐2017 school year, 213 youth enrolled in the Milperra State High Schools were homeless. "Homeless" is defined as means not having a home, and you don't have to be living on the street to be lost, any student who lacks a regular, fixed, night-time residence. These include couch surfing, living in weekly rate motels, doubled‐up, shelters, and parks, camping, on the streets, or living in substandard blight conditions. A variety of factors contribute to the unstable housing situations of these children. Schools and service providers around the region are seeing more first‐time homelessness in youth and families. see more
Street youth frequently face a vicious cycle of challenges. They feel discouraged and hopeless, violent, life threats, threats of harm, disappearance, lack of shelter, food, health care. And sometimes, self-medicating with drugs, family domestic violence, or alcohol leads to unfavorable interactions with law enforcement, which causes difficulty for them in school success, finding housing, and employment, thus leading to further lack of confidence self-worth. Sleeping and staying on the streets creates a host of additional problems for teens in this area. Including a higher risk of sexual abuse and sexually transmitted diseases, like (AIDS), mental health issues, decreased access to health care, and unhealthy relationships that lead to routine sexual acts among themselves, without knowing who carries diseases. Example Aids is too much within African Communities that we currently as volunteers feared and need to raise awareness to prevent.