14 November, 2008

What's not new

It's a fact that unemployment has gone up and more and more homes are being reposed is now old news but did you know that an extra 120 people slept rough in the last couple of nights and in the last three months the homeless figure has risen steadily. These figures were reached just by making a few phone calls to three homeless charities in certain parts of the country.
Homelessness is not a thing of the past. It's still a major issue and is going to be an even bigger issue over the next year. No one really wants to admit to a growing problem. The last time we had a recession homelessness went up by 26% . We see it more now on the fringes of big cities because of policies made by certain councils who want to give there area a look of cleanliness and respectability have made it impossible for homeless people to have what to them could be a safe place to sleep. Is it right that people should have to move from area to area? Christmas is on the horizon again and guess what we are talking about it again. The thing that is most annoying to me personally is that we are still talking about it. I know people will say things are being done but when you have only limited places for people who sleep rough in the winter I think is disgraceful in this day and age recession or not. The fact is no one wants to be homeless by choice is neither here nor there. It just happens. One decision, One bad move can and does change lives. Another thing that irks me is that out of the thousands over the years that have turned their lives around only 0.5% are now working for the homeless and I believe we have the opportunity over the next few years to remedy this. We should and can use the experiences of those that have been in the firing line as it were. I have been talking about homelessness now since I got my life back together and it seems I will be doing that for sometime to come. So I am thinking more positively and trying to work out how to have a more rigorous approach to the problem of homelessness and how to use the wealth of experience we have to good use. I have been toying with the idea of a hostel that is run by exhomeless starting with one then another and so on

No comments: