Monday 10th Oct is World Homeless Day, homelessness is a hugely complicated issue, any of us could become homeless and an extremely high percentage of us are just 1 paycheque away from becoming homeless.
A person who is homeless could be someone who is sleeping on a friends sofa, also known as ’Sofa Surfing’, it could be someone who is sleeping in a night shelter, emergency accommodation, or in the worst case sleeping rough on the streets. Ultimately anyone without a place to call home, is homeless.
You may be thinking why don’t we just build more homes then, and to some extent you’d be right, more affordable housing, council houses and private landlords willing to rent to people who are homeless are without doubt needed and would significantly help to reduce homelessness, at SHARE we raised enough money to buy a house by selling bricks for £1 each, and we have just launched a second campaign to buy a second home, https://shareaid.co.uk/collections/project-donations/products/buy-a-brick
However, and here’s where things get really complicated, in most cases, these extra homes would only help those people without a serious addiction to drugs.
Let’s imagine that you’ve fallen on hard times and for one of any number of reasons you’ve been made homeless. Imagine how that would feel, imagine you’ve ended up on the streets and how it would feel to sit on the cold hard floor, as people walk past you, mostly ignoring you, avoiding any eye contact with you, celebrating nights out, holding hands with friends and family, carrying bags full of food and clothes.
You know they’re just going about their normal lives and that most of the people are probably ignoring you because they don’t know what to say, or they’re even feeling intimidated by you, some shield their children’s eyes as they walk past you, and you hear them tell their children to stop staring at you, which makes you feel ashamed of your situation even more. Can you imagine the emotions you would be feeling?
Then imagine that someone actually sits down next to you and after becoming friends with you, offers you something which they promise you will numb your pain, and give you a high, and they promise you that it’s free, a favour, to help you escape the pain of the streets.
Sadly this happens a lot here in Chester and many other major towns and city’s.
The next day that same person returns, except it isn’t free anymore, and he’s not so friendly after all, but it’s your only way to numb the pain of your situation, and it worked briefly yesterday, so you begin begging to pay for more. This continues, but each time you need a little more to get the same feeling as the first time… before long you need more than you can afford and you begin to build up a debt.
Then a person with an ID badge on, who tells you they’re from the council’s homeless outreach or a charity turns up and asks you if you’re ok, they ask if you would like a bed for the night, the trouble is that without realising it, you’ve now got a debt and an addiction to pay for, and if you go inside you can’t beg, so you decide stay out, because people walking past you keep taking pity on you and give you the money you need to pay your dealer.
So, what’s the answer? The answer is, not to give people who are begging on the streets cash. Whether you like it or not, from our experience, it is more than extremely likely, that you are inadvertently funding a drugs addiction which is preventing the person you want to help, from actually finding or keeping an emergency accommodation, which ultimately would’ve lead to them having a place to call home.
What can you do to help prevent homelessness then?
- [ ] Volunteer your time to help a local homeless charity, like SHARE, CATH, Save The Family or Soul Kitchen.
- [ ] Raise funds to donate to a local homeless charity
- [ ] Donate food, clothing or money, but only if you can afford to do so.
What should you do if someone is begging on the street and asks you for help there and then?
- [ ] Be polite and treat them as you would any other person, remember how you would’ve felt above, if you can afford to, offer to buy them a hot drink or food, tell them where the SHARE Day Centre is on City Rd, or Chester Aid To The Homeless is on Grosvenor St.
What should I do if I am worried about someone who is homeless?
- [ ] You can call the Council’s Homeless Outreach Team Forfutures on 0300 123 2442 and report the persons description and location. If the person is in severe pain or has a serious injury please dial 999 immediately and ask for an ambulance.
What should I do if I am about to become homeless myself?
- [ ] Simply click here: https://forfutures.co.uk/homeless-prevention-advice-and-information/ follow the information which is relevant to you and speak to someone who will help you.
- [ ] Contact your nearest Citizens Advice https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
- [ ] Talk to as many people as you can and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t leave it too late.
- [ ] Contact your local councillor who will be able to signpost you and tell you what help is available. https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/your-council/councillors-and-committees
- [ ] Contact your local food bank and make sure you have enough to eat. https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/
- [ ] Contact a local homeless charity.
SHARE: https://shareaid.co.uk/ Tel: 03301201820
Chester Aid To The Homeless (CATH) https://cath.org.uk/ Tel:01244 314834
Soul Kitchen https://soulkitchenchester.org.uk/
Save The Family https://www.savethefamily.org.uk/ Tel: 01244 409100
Local Solutions https://www.localsolutions.org.uk/
Tel: 0151 709 0990
To support the work we do right here in Chester please register to volunteer here: https://shareaid.co.uk/pages/become-a-volunteer or you can donate here: https://shareaid.co.uk/collections/project-donations/products/make-a-general-donation
SHARE - Supporting Homeless Assisting Refugees Everywhere. Registered Charity No.1166530.
#NationalHomelessnessWeek #Homeless #RoughSleeping #WorldHomelessDay
