homelessness
Councils have partnered with Kids Under Cover to provide studio homes for young people in need.
Banyule and Moreland city councils have found a way to deal with abandoned cars on their streets while tackling youth homelessness.
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he councils donate abandoned cars to charity organisation Kids Under Cover, which sells them and uses the proceeds to build studio homes for young homeless people or those at risk of becoming homeless. Moreland joined Kids Under Cover last year and promotes the Donate Your Car program on its yellow abandoned vehicle stickers. In the last 10 months, the Moreland community, along with all council’s unclaimed impounded abandoned vehicles, has resulted in 134 donated cars with 95 sold to raise $40,350. Banyule is Victoria’s second Kids Under Cover partnership, joining in April this year. Council is hoping the rising increase of abandoned or unregistered cars will have the silver lining of helping a great cause. Last year, 603 cars were reported abandoned or unregistered in Banyule, representing a steady increase each year since 2006 when the figure was only 129. “Under this exciting partnership, the yellow stickers that we put on unregistered cars or those suspected of being abandoned, give owners three options: moving the car to private property, donating it to Kids Under Cover or waiting for council to impound it,” Banyule Mayor Craig Langdon said. 2 0 c i vi c
If council impounds a car, it can be donated to Kids Under Cover if it is not claimed within 21 days. “We think this is an easy and very effective way for us, and Banyule residents who no longer want their old cars, to make a difference to the lives of young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless,” Cr Langdon said. Cars donated to Kids Under Cover are auctioned for free by Manheim Auctioneers with 100 per cent of the proceeds going directly to preventing youth homelessness. The money raised helps Kids Under Cover build relocatable one and two bedroom studios that are put in the backyards of young people’s families or carers. Kids Under Cover National Chief Executive Officer Jo Swift said Donate Your Car is a unique and innovative approach to preventing youth homelessness. “By building studios, complemented with scholarships and mentors to homeless and at-risk young people, we are able to keep families together and keep young people engaged in education and with their community rather than resorting to living on the streets,” she said. “This program is making an incredible difference to the number of young people we
Moreland’s yellow stickers include an option to donate the car to Kids Un der Cover.
can help and we hope that other councils around Australia will follow the lead of Banyule and Moreland councils.” More than 3,500 vehicles have been donated from across Australia since the Donate Your Car program started in 2006.