Homeless people in Hobsons Bay will receive shoe boxes filled with essentials this Christmas thanks to a young women’s mentoring program. Under the pilot program run by Hobsons Bay’s youth services, 10 year 10 girls came up with the idea of a “shoe box challenge” to decorate and fill shoe boxes with necessities and luxuries for homeless young people. One of the mentors, Suzanne Orange, says the idea garnered widespread support after the girls handed out leaflets and posted information about it on Facebook. “It’s been a fabulous program and I have enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the girls we were mentoring,” she said. On Friday, the boxes were presented for distribution to Altona-based homelessness service Latitude: Directions for Young People.
… Goya Dmytryshchak