Father Bob Maguire and Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon have helped local youth homelessness support service Latitude launch its ‘Belong’ campaign.
The Altona-based service supports 200 young people annually in Hobsons Bay and Moonee Valley.
Latitude manager Rhonda Collins said the campaign aimed to give young people at risk of homelessness a sense of community belonging.
The campaign includes videos outlining Latitude’s work and how the public can donate and get involved.
Ms Collins said there were only five support workers attached to her agency to service all of Hobsons Bay and Moonee Valley.
“You may not know about us but if we weren’t here you’d miss us,” she said.
“The young people we work with have been around the system for so long. They’re fatigued, exhausted by life.”
Father Maguire said Latitude had been successful in engaging at-risk youth by creating a sense of belonging.
“I’ve been hanging around for 40 years and I still reckon there’s an ingredient missing and [Latitude] has it – the belonging thing,” he said.
“It’s one thing to be homeless, it’s another thing to be placeless.
“They’ve got the vaccine. The vaccine is belonging.”
Mr Gordon said the Bulldogs had long supported Latitude and felt there was a great need for their work addressing issues that may lead to kids becoming homeless.
“As Bob Maguire so eloquently put it, you need a sense of place in addition to a roof over your head,” he said.
