CWH at Mardi Gras Fair Day 2019
Several months ago, our resident advisory group ‘Tenants’ Voice’ raised with us that they would like to have a CWH stall at Mardi Gras Fair Day, with support from CWH staff. Mardi Gras Fair Day is a large community event that signifies the opening weekend of Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Over 80,000 patrons flock to Victoria Park in Camperdown for a day filled with live entertainment, over 200 stalls, and food and drink outlets.
Manned by CWH staff and residents, we had fun engaging and educating the broader community about affordable housing. More importantly, we were able to learn more about how the community perceives affordable housing which will inform future engagement.
When the Tenants’ Voice group was established, we spoke about goals for the group. There was an overwhelming sentiment that residents wanted to be proud of where they lived and a key component of this is overcoming misconceptions. Sometimes affordable and community housing is stigmatised due to lack of information around what it is and what kind of people access affordable housing. This was an opportunity to showcase some of our amazing residents and challenge some of the preconceived conceptions that exist.
