stuck in the maze from housed to homeless

Koha so we can koha

The crew who brought you 'stuck in the maze // from housed to homeless' last year are bringing it back. 'stuck in the maze' is an interactive maze that takes people on a journey from being housed to sleeping rough. We want people who have experienced being homeless to be the co-creators, content providers and stewards of the maze; and we need to koha them for their contribution. So please, koha so we can koha. You'll meet the crew in the updates section.

BACKGROUND

Last year, we built 'stuck in the maze' and put it in Beresford Square for World Homeless Day.

The temporary maze built of corflute took maze walkers on a journey that outlined the experiences of people who have been homeless and how they went from being housed to being homeless. Here's what people who went through the maze last year said...

"My sister and i went to this event and it totally blew me away ... to the brothers and sisters who held this .... nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa mo ou koutou mahi ki runga I tenei kaupapa whakahirahira."

"Its a raw, eye-opening, honest and thought provoking work"

"The sadness, and reality of the lives of many homeless in NZ, great work highlighting how it feels to be in this situation"

"Thought provoking reminder of how the people most in need of our society's support are often the most neglected"

This year we're rebuilding the maze in Auckland Central Library. And not just for a day, but for the month of October (to highlight World Homeless Day and those people sleeping rough all around our city).

WHAT WE'VE ACHIEVED SO FAR

The Central City Library have said "YES". And, we have some funding from Waitemata Local Board and Creative Communities as well as the Auckland Design Office at Council. We're building the team and scrounging corflute.

One of the lessons we learned from last year's installation was how important people with lived experience of homelessness were in making the maze real. This year we want to extend the community and their involvement. We have the opportunity to include people with lived experience of homelessness in every stage of the project - we have identified up to 20 roles from assistant producer to maze kaitiaki.

Your koha can help us koha a whole lot of people (we will use the Lifewise model of koha to reward these volunteers for their contribution).

HOW YOU CAN HELP

There are three ways you can help:
1. Give to our Boosted campaign, any amount helps!
2. Spread the word through your networks. You could forward this via email or post on social media.
3. Follow and boost our hashtag #stuckinthemaze

And, of course, you should come and wander the maze yourself, once we've finished installing it. The dates are 7 Oct to 5 Nov.

Thanks for your support!