A charity has gone viral after launching a two-week trial in which they converted a parking lot into bed space for the homeless every night.
To reduce the number of people forced to sleep on the streets at night, an Australian-based charity called Beddown came up with the idea to make use of parking lots which are vacant at night in order to provide makeshift bed space for the homeless.
The campaign was launched in Brisbane whereas hardworking volunteers ensured that the homeless were provided with not only a warm bed space every night but also a proper bathroom and medical attention.
“We will look to get as close as we can to a proper comfortable bed to provide the homeless with a great night’s sleep is our ultimate goal,” Beddown leaders wrote on Instagram.
“Sleep deprivation is a massive issue for our homeless, so being in a place that offers shelter and is safe, secure and comfortable we believe will have a big impact on those who use Beddown.”
After running the trial, the Beddown creators collected valuable information from the homeless in order to determine whether the idea was a success or not – and as it turned out, the campaign worked better than expected.
During the 2-week experiment, 41 homeless individuals used Beddown’s services whereas they rated their stay 4.5/5 stars. In addition, 100% of the visitors confirmed their stay felt safe.
“It was great to start bringing the Beddown vision to life last night with a group of our awesome volunteers for the Dry Run. Thank you to our awesome group of volunteers who came in late on a Saturday night to help us trial and set-up some beds,” the charity wrote in another post.
“Although as expected we had a few challenges to overcome, it was awesome to start bringing Beddown to life. Beddown will provide an immediate response for those who sleep rough to access safe, secure shelter and access to a comfy bed and a great night’s sleep.
“We will work with our other collaborative partners to provide long term solutions to transition our guests into accommodation, education and employment opportunities and ultimately put ourselves out of business (this is the vision).”
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Replaced!