By REBECCA BILLS
Fitness class puts its puff in to ease homeless plight…
ZUMBA participants in Lilydale have given $800 to supply 10 swags for homeless people after talking with Mount Evelyn resident Tim Heenan.
Mr Heenan has spent the month of August sleeping in the elements as the homeless would with Zumba Fitness instructor Alison Woning donating her class profits towards tackling homelessness after meeting him.
Participants of the Zumba class who practise at Jean Eales Pavillion also got to know Mr Heenan, a former Yarra Ranges councillor, and were keen to learn more about his cause.
“I had an opportunity to chat to the girls the other night and how terrible some of the aspects of homelessness really are,” he said
“It’s really great to chat to younger people too because often we as a community forget they have feelings and emotions and need to be educated on the statistics,” he said.
“I could see after a few minutes of talking to the girls that some of them had no understanding of how bad homelessness is in Australia with so many asking ‘how does this even happen in Australia?’.”
Mr Heenan said it can be a combination of things that make people homeless including mental illness, long term unemployment and economic and social exclusion.
“Giving a swag gives a little bit of dignity back and means these people won’t be out in the elements,” he said.
“A recent case in Sydney saw a homeless man die of hypothermia.
“We are one of the world’s most charitable nations and we all want to do something to feel good in ourselves and to help out.”
Mr Heenan has been involved in Sleepouts to raise awareness of homelessness since 2008 and said it can be a real challenge but a great way to get a real understanding of the issues surrounding the topic.
He said this year because of how bad the weather has been the box he sleeps in has been destroyed a couple of times and he has had to make another one.
“Once the cardboard is compromised, the dampness gets in and I just can’t lie in a damp box night after night,” he said.
“I just wonder how those people that are living in the rough in the same situation as me do that.
“I want this year to really cement a greater understanding of what’s going on in the community.”
The money the Zumba girls raised will be going towards Swags for Homeless which is a not-for-profit charity working to provide relief to every homeless person turned away from shelter.
It is the winner of the Australian Human Rights Award in 2011 and is a nationally accredited charity.
