Reflecting on Link Wentworth's Home Sweet 2026 Sleepout
- Residence Revival
- Aug 12
- 3 min read
How one night of solidarity connects to our mission of keeping Western Sydney housed
On the night of 7 August, our Founder and Director, Matthew Rasheed, joined community members and business leaders from across Western Sydney to take part in Link Wentworth's Home Sweet 2026 sleepout, held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre on Regatta Road in Penrith, NSW. Here's his reflection on the night.
A Night for a Vital Cause
This flagship fundraiser brought together more than 80 corporate leaders and community members, including Penrith Panthers legend Mark Geyer OAM, Lana Borg from Mama Lama's Community Foundation, and Carolyn Stewart from Penrith City Council, all sleeping out for one night to help raise $300,000 in support of essential services across Western Sydney.
Funds raised on the night are shared between three vital programs:
Platform Youth Services
Birribee Housing
Link Wentworth's Tenant Scholarship Program
Why We Were There
At Residence Revival, our work is grounded in prevention: supporting individuals facing challenges like hoarding, squalor, or health crises to help save their tenancies before they result in homelessness. This work sits upstream of the crisis Home Sweet exists to address. Every tenancy we help save is one less person who ends up needing the emergency housing, youth services, or crisis support that Link Wentworth and its partners provide.
Being part of Home Sweet gave us more than a chance to show support. It connected us directly with the organisations we work alongside every day, and the ones we hope to work with more closely in future:
Stronger referral pathways. Standing alongside Platform Youth Services, Birribee Housing, and Link Wentworth's tenancy teams builds the relationships that make warm referrals possible, in both directions, when someone needs support beyond what we provide.
A seat at the table on Western Sydney's housing response. Events like this bring together community housing, tenancy support, aged care, and NDIS providers who are all working the same problem from different angles. Being in the room keeps us aligned with the broader sector and aware of gaps we might be able to help fill.
Visibility for our prevention model. Homelessness prevention is often overlooked in conversations that focus on crisis response and emergency accommodation. Participating gave us a platform to advocate for prevention as part of the solution, not an afterthought.
A reminder of why this work matters. Spending a night alongside people directly affected by, and working against, the housing crisis reinforces the urgency behind everything we do at Residence Revival.
A Shared Mission
While the event is on track to surpass its fundraising target, the night was a powerful reminder that solving the housing crisis takes a collaborative effort, one that spans community housing, tenancy support, aged care, and NDIS providers all working together.
We're proud to have stood alongside so many committed organisations, and we look forward to returning next year.
"Participating in Home Sweet provided a valuable opportunity to stand alongside partner organisations working on the front lines of this issue and to connect deeply with others dedicated to keeping people housed." Matthew Rasheed, Founder & Director, Residence Revival
Thank You to Our Fundraising Supporters 💛
We also want to take a moment to thank everyone who generously supported our own fundraising initiative for Home Sweet 2026. Thanks to your kindness, we raised $900 of our $1,000 goal, an incredible show of support for a cause that matters so deeply to our community.
To everyone who donated, shared, and cheered us on: thank you. Every contribution brings us one step closer to a Western Sydney where everyone has a safe place to call home.
Know someone who could use our support?
Nights like Home Sweet remind us how much stronger our community is when we work together to keep people housed. If you're a Support Coordinator, Allied Health Professional, or community worker with a participant at risk of losing their tenancy, whether it's a hospital discharge on the horizon, a hoarding or squalor situation, or a home in need of a reset, we'd love to help.
Refer a participant to Residence Revival or get in touch with our team to find out how we can support them.
Residence Revival is proud to support prevention-focused housing initiatives across Western Sydney. Follow our blog for more updates on the work we do to help save tenancies and keep our community housed.
#NDIS #HomeSweet2026 #LinkWentworth #ResidenceRevival #HomelessnessPrevention #WesternSydney #TenancySupport #EndHomelessness #CommunityHousing #CharitySleepout
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