Homeless People Are Everywhere

I was talking to some friends last week about homeless people when someone said to me “There are no homeless people in Camberwell, they gather in areas on low-income earning areas where appropriate support services are”. Apart from my initial negative reaction to such a dogmatic statement, it did make me think and I wanted to prove this person wrong.

In an attempt to mainly avoid work, magically everyone stopped to voice their opinion on the matter, just where are homeless people, and are they closer to home than you think?

One of my colleagues mentioned that he lives in Kooyong and that there just isn’t the support networks for homeless people in that area, so therefore there must be no homeless people in the area – but another colleague challenged that by commenting that the South Eastern freeway was next door and a perfect place for the homeless to camp out near the pylons.

Open your eyes people!

I feel that this highlights the contrasting opinions on homelessness and the general lack of knowledge on the topic, people just didn’t bother to look at the services provided for homeless people, nor recognise that homeless people could be anywhere, not just out of sight and out of mind and huddled around homeless shelters.

Also out of my discussions, people just didn’t seem to understand what homeless people need, that way, they idea of what they needed was extremely varied based on their “idea” of what a homeless person looked like.

Homeless people are our neighbours

I thought that the idea of there not being a homeless person in the area near, where I live was ridiculous – and sure enough, one of my wife’s colleagues knows of a homeless person near where we live – not huddled around a shelter program, drifting in short stay accommodation, but living in a middle class suburb that where the majority of residents would like to ignore their presence – shattering their insulated worlds.

This person wanted to remain anonymous, but spoke of this issue, people just don’t want to acknowledge this problem due to the stigma which they fell having homeless people around brings.

People, including me wouldn’t have believed that this could be so close to home – but it is, no matter how much we want to ignore it.

Their stories will bring the reality of this home, and we feel that our increased awareness of this will support our goals – homefulness.

Homeless people come in many forms, in all locations.

So, what are everyone’s stories of homeless people that live in our own backyards?

How can Homefulness support budding groups in your area where there are “No” homeless people?


Nick