In Hanging by a Thread: Our Search for Home, young people from Anglicare’s youth homelessness and youth justice services explored their personal perceptions of home and homelessness through their photography.
Their art probes, and sometimes challenges, our understandings of home in thought-provoking ways. The name of the exhibition reveals uncertainties and struggles, frustration and loneliness, as well as the sheer dogged resilience and courage that it takes to navigate a life between home and homelessness.
Hanging by a Thread is a collaboration between Anglicare Southern Queensland and The University of Queensland Life Course Centre. The project emerged from a desire to provide a channel for the young people that Anglicare supports through our INSYNC and Intensive Bail Initiative programs to influence the fitout of our new youth accommodation at Beenleigh; to enrich and enhance our service delivery; and to inform our advocacy.
With the help of the young people who participated in this project, we have much to reflect upon. Their thoughtfulness and creativity will help us to ask more and better questions about the services we offer and the research we do; and to ensure our advocacy truly represents the voices of the young people we work with.
The project report, prepared by The University of Queensland Life Course Centre researchers, documents the objectives, aims, process and findings of Hanging by a Thread. It addresses two key questions: How do young people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness use photography as a way of understanding their experiences and make meaning of ‘home’? How can the photographs and stories from young people inform service delivery, advocacy and the design of a new youth homelessness accommodation service?
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