Understanding how anyone can become homeless is an important part of understanding how to tackle homelessness.
Anyone can become homeless” is the key theme in Red Cross Homeless Persons’ Week campaign this year. We want to raise awareness of the different pathways into homelessness that people may take.
On any given night, 105,000 people are homeless across Australia. The last national Census revealed that nearly half of them were staying with relatives and friends; the rest make do with refuges, boarding houses and sleeping rough in parks or other public places. Each night more than 16,000 children are homeless because their parent or parents are homeless.
“Anyone can become homeless” is a message designed to make those of us lucky enough to have a home rethink the stereotypes we have about the homeless – of unkempt old men drinking from bottles wrapped in brown paper bags; people in the central business districts of our cities with “I am homeless” signs scrawled on cardboard and begging for loose change; young people living on the streets.
We have these stereotypes reinforced through our own observations and through the images portrayed in the media. The reality though is that most people who are homeless are invisible to us; we are unaware they exist.
By recognising that anyone can become homeless we challenge these stereotypes: it could be me or you instead of the “bum”, troubled youth or someone with mental illness. It opens us up to acknowledging that every one of those 105,000 homeless people has their own story of how they got to be without a home.
Let’s hear from some of the people we have worked with about what it’s like to be homeless:
Eliza says: “Living on the streets is really unimaginable to people who haven’t lived that life. You’re treated like you’re absolutely worthless; a blot on society. I had to beg for money for food, got constantly sick, slept out through some of the coldest winters I’ve ever experienced because I couldn’t get into a shelter. It didn’t take long for me to become chronically depressed and addicted to narcotics.”
Luke doesn’t remember what it’s like to have a settled family life – he fell out with his mother and her boyfriend while still in his early teens and spent most of his teenage years couch-surfing. When he wasn’t staying with a mate, which was quite often, he would walk around all night.
“Being homeless sucks,” says Luke. “Once you’re 19 there aren’t a lot of good refuges to go to … if you’re late back or miss the curfew there are consequences.”
The consequences of being without a home obviously complicate life. Where would I sleep, eat and keep my possessions safe? How would I hold down a job, study or keep in contact with family and friends? But homelessness is more than that: it is also a fundamental challenge to people’s identities, as you can tell from Eliza and Luke’s words. It disrupts belonging, leads you to question your self-value and makes it hard to stay connected to a community.
Homelessness pushes people to the edge of society and often into a homeless sub-culture where they are excluded from many aspects of society. The risk is that people become trapped in a vicious circle. Often with a mixture of drugs and alcohol, mental distress and illness, criminality and severely impaired employment opportunities conspiring to keep them in homelessness.
During Homeless Persons’ Week, let’s take time to reflect on the disturbing statistics I mentioned earlier. As a parent myself, I think of those thousands of children who won’t have a home to bring friends back to, who don’t belong to a community where they can go to school, participate in sporting teams and have the opportunity to play with friends.
The good news is it doesn’t have to be this way. We know enough about what works to have an impact on homelessness and as a nation we have a plan to tackle the issue. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it does mean we have the opportunity to bring about a change for the better.
To make a donation or find out more about our programs and services, visit www.redcross.org.au
Ian Coverdale is the Australian Red Cross national manager, social inclusion programs.
