Friday 12 April 2013

No Homes for the Homeless









There are so many people who are homeless, and go below the radar.  The housing situation is appalling I know of people waiting in excess of 3 years for a permanent home.  The system works and this is going to sound contradictory, it works for those who are truly homeless and truly in need.  For example if you have had a row with your parents, you think you have had enough, you turn up at the housing office and they break down the options, they  direct you to a very grubby unsafe looking hostel, at this point you make a decision can I repair the situation back home or am I going to spend a night here? Believing that you may lose your life.  You spend a night you don’t lose your life you may wait on average 6-18 months before a permanent home can be found for you.  Most of us would return home or go to a friends and take the sofa option.  Once you go to a friends or relative and take the sofa option you have lost your place in the homeless waiting list.  


Men have it the hardest, as they do not qualify for  a place on the waiting list unless they are referred from various institutions or agencies Prison or a Home with Drug, Drink or psychological problems.


How many times do we walk past someone homeless on the street?  Torn between that self righteous dilemma of judging them, questioning what they are doing there, we gain some sort of comfort believing it is of their own doing, drugs or drink.  It doesn’t make it any more acceptable.


What needs to be done, is they simply need to build more houses in the Social Housing sector which has been undermined since the ‘Right to buy ‘ policy from the mid 80’s it made a lot of people house owners but unfortunately took a lot of housing stock out of the Social Housing Sector.  Everyday I walk past a new development of those Swanky Apartments that no one I know live in or can afford.  Now what is that about?









posted fb 13/03/13
#70 Homeless


He wore the same trousers
He wore the same shirt
The same everything from the day before
And the day before that
We thought he was being street
Turns out he was living on the street
He was homeless and we never noticed
And we never knew
We assumed like us he had somewhere to go
He was always there
That should have been an indication
We never noticed
He had nowhere to go
He was homeless and we never knew

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