Today is the final day of Homeless Persons’ Week for 2014. The theme this year is Homelessness: we can’t afford to ignore it.
Homeless Persons’ Week is an annual themed week coordinated by Homelessness Australia. It is used to raise awareness of people experiencing homelessness and the surrounding issues. – Homelessness Australia
It is held in the first full week of August each year.
Who would you think is the ‘average’ homeless person? Is it the stereotypical old man in ragged clothes, clutching a bottle in a brown paper bag, sleeping under some old newspapers on a park bench?
I remember statistics from a few years back saying that over 40% of the homeless in Perth were under 18. Families are living in cars; people who have jobs can’t afford the fuel to get to work; rent increases mean that parents can no longer put a roof over their family’s heads.
The homeless are people like you.
Unfortunately those who are homeless are often people who have had a change in circumstances which has meant that they no longer have somewhere to live. It can be a mother and her children fleeing abuse or a formerly successful white collar worker who has lost everything. Many times it can be people who have a job, but their wages just won’t cover the high cost of rent.
And if you think that homelessness doesn’t affect you, think again. Homelessness doesn’t only cause devastating personal harm, it significantly impacts on society and costs the government.
Homelessness is more than the absence of a home – it can be driven and compounded by interwoven conditions and problems. As a consequence, homelessness leads to a high use of public support services.
On average, the Commonwealth Government spends $15,000 on services for each Australian. People experiencing homelessness will cost the government $30,000 more each year. Australian governments spend millions of dollars each year dealing with the effects of homelessness.
Studies have shown that addressing homelessness reduces costs to government. Homelessness services assist people to achieve positive change in their lives, which reduced their use of other services. – Homelessness Australia
I’ve seen people living in extreme poverty in developing nations and I know the lies poverty tells people and the messages that it can send. You’re worthless. You’ll never break free from your circumstances. Nobody cares. I can see the same messages in homelessness here in Australia.
You might think that there’s no homelessness in your area but it’s extremely likely that if it’s not obvious, it’s still hidden somewhere in your own suburb. Please take the time to learn more about homelessness and then take steps to do something that will make a difference.
Check out the Homelessness Australia website and discover how you can be part of the solution.
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How does someone start looking up once they become homeless? How do they start to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel? How do they begin to hope again?