22 November, 2006

Homeless any spare change

How often do you see someone in your town or city sitting there with a sign saying homeless and hungry? I see it everyday most places I go but did you know it's not the easiest of things to do. Because it's soul destroying and demeaning. I should know I did it for many years just to feed my drug habit( along with a bit of shop lifting.) I am so glad those days are over but when I see it now I stop and talk to the people begging and most of the time they are genuine but as we all know there are some who are not. Christmas is just round the corner and no doubt we will all see a rise in people begging but should we give well my own train of thought is it is up to the individual but we must not forget that just because they are begging and look rough, they are not part of our society because they are. Most people that are homeless are there because they have problems from simply being homeless to drugs, alcohol or mental health issues or just simply health problems. When you get help for those problems there is still the problem of housing. Every government since time knows when has had this problem of homelessness but forty years ago a film called Cathy come home showed the real perils of homelessness . Homeless hostels and organizations sprang to life. The original problem of drugs and drink at first where a problem because no one would take on these problems. It was only in the eighties that hostels began to accept people with problems. Still today the problem of people with severe mental health problems have not been addressed as there seems to be only a few places available for this type of problem. Homelessness has several faces today but it's still a problem

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Right on. Thank you.
You may be interested in my blog www.HomelessManSpeaks.com, which offers a first-person perspective of life on the streets.

Keep on keeping on.

Philip
Blog:

tonedod said...

hi,jamie
agree with comments on mental health, but can i suggest,ask a person who begs WHY! is it because they are homeless, or because they have a habit to support,many people who beg,are not Street homeless,but disconnected from society,either hidden homeless or otherwise........
regards T