Giving Doctor: Helping the homeless

Q: “I am finding that I am being very confronted by the number of homeless people begging in the streets. Should I give them cash? Should I have vouchers from local community groups or supermarkets to hand out to them?”

THE FACTS

•  105,000 people are homeless in Australia each night (if they were in the same place, they’d be a town the size of Albury/Wodonga).

•  Some 16,000 of these people are living on the street or in improvised shelters (and even that’s half the size of Bathurst), while the rest are in temporary accommodation.

•  Contrary to common perception, almost half of Australia’s homeless people are children and young people under 25. Around 76,000 people who receive homeless support are children under 15.

•  The largest single cause of homelessness in Australia is domestic and family violence, which overwhelmingly affects women and children.

•  Though demand is very high, many services seek to assist homeless people to stabilise their housing, resolve their health and personal issues and reconnect with their communities

THE MYTHS

•  Homeless people like it on the streets – they wouldn’t take a room if you offered it.
Certainly, the longer someone’s on the streets the harder it is for them to live what we may regard as a normal life – but it’s what most of them would want, if they thought they could get it.

•  All homeless people live on the street.
Of the 105,000 people listed as homeless, only some 16,000 experience ‘ primary’ homelessness – that is, living on the street or in improvised shelters. Many have access to some form of shelter, some of the time. What they lack is stable, safe, suitable shelter they can count on for the long term.

•  Homelessness is permanent.
Many people are homeless only once in their lives, while others cycle between homelessness and more or less unsatisfactory accommodation. Some people remain homeless for years, but this is hardly the norm; more often it’s just for a few nights or weeks.

•  Homeless people are older, male and single.
Almost half of Australia’s homeless people are children and young people under 25. Around 76,000 people who receive homeless support are children under 15. The largest single cause of homelessness in Australia is domestic and family violence, which overwhelmingly affects women and children.

•  Homeless people are all mentally ill. They’re on the streets because we closed down the mental institutions in the 1970s.
Around one in five Australians will experience a mental illness at some stage of their life and most people with mental illness live independently in the community. Institutions aren’t the answer: houses are.

•  Homeless people are different from you and me.
Many homeless people have work and family histories much like everyone else’s. However, they may face one or more challenges that make establishing or maintaining stable, secure accommodation particularly difficult. Such challenges may include unemployment, family breakdown, poor health, lack of support from family and friends as well as the general lack of affordable housing.

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?

You can give to people who ask you for money in the street (you might think of it as There But For the Grace of God Go I tax).

Of course, this is open to the objection that the people who accost you may not be the ones in most need, or in need at all. They may want the money to spend on alcohol or drugs. Giving them money may encourage them to be even more abject rather than more independent.

So what to do?

There are two ways to look at this issue, and they both have telling arguments. One is to help individuals or organisations that give to individuals; the other is to try and change the system so that there are fewer homeless people to be philanthropic to.

Here are 10 ideas to get you started.

•  Engage
If someone approaches you on the street asking for money, talk with them about what they really need. Offer to shout them lunch while you chat. Ask how you can help.

•  Buy a Copy of ‘The Big Issue’
Sold on the streets by vendors, The Big Issue magazine provides people who are homeless, unemployed, disadvantaged or at risk of becoming socially excluded an opportunity to earn an income and take steps towards making positive changes in their lives. Find out more

•  Buy a Swag
Swags for Homeless, as its name suggests, provides swags for the homeless – “a dignified swag” that is heavy duty, waterproof, breathable and includes mosquito protection and an insulating mattress. Find out more

•  Give Food
SecondBite redistributes food that would otherwise go to landfill to people who are homeless or living in disadvantaged circumstances. Find out more

•  Help Kids
Kids Under Cover builds homes and provides scholarships for homeless and at-risk young people. Find out more

•  Buy a Book
The Footpath Library program delivers books to homeless and disadvantaged people living in hostels and on the streets. Find out more

• Donate/Volunteer
Donate to or volunteer with one of the groups that provide shelter for people who might otherwise be on the street. There are the big ones, like the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Salvos and Anglicare, and there are smaller local services, from Melbourne City Mission down to bodies like the Alice Springs Youth Accommodation Service, that you can look for in your own suburb. Women are often forgotten when people think of giving to the homeless. Groups like McAuley Community Services for Women are working to fill the gaps.

•  Attack the Causes
Put your money into attacking the causes of homelessness – issues such as domestic violence, social prejudice against gay people, and family stress. You can look to better education, or stronger community resilience, to improve the wider environment and reduce the number of damaged souls entering the danger zone.

•  Get Educated
Watch the ABC film Oasis. Have a look at the Government’s White Paper - The Road Home: A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness. Look up the National Homelessness Information Clearinghouse online.

•  Get Noisy
Support advocacy efforts to persuade governments to change its policies for the better. Or go one step further and join a political party and work to elect the government that you think will have the best chance of making things come out right.