I’m doing something a little different on this blog today. Something I’ve recently noticed in the area I live in, is the increase in homelessness. Homelessness has been something that’s bothered me for a really long time and it makes me very sad.
How is our country letting this happen?
I think the thing that annoys me the most, is there are people out there who just associate these people with drugs, and that’s not fair. There are so many reasons as to why people become homeless, violent relationships, unemployment, lack of affordable housing, the reasons are endless, and the statistics for how many people are homeless are really really scary. In England, Scotland and Wales there is an estimated 95,000 people without a home. This makes my heart sink, knowing that there are people struggling out there, to get by everyday.
When you think of someone homeless, you probably have an image in your head, which is the most common form, and that is rough sleepers. These are the ones that you will see on the streets. The ones who would rather sleep on a stone hard floor, than deal with whatever they are going through, or even the ones who can’t afford to have a roof over their heads. This effects people of all different ages, children, the elderly, people like you and me and its heartbreaking. Do you really think people would risk developing health conditions, just for a little bit of money and to be judged and given dirty looks too in the streets. I don’t think so. Yes there are con artists about I get that, but there are so many ways you can give to the homeless, without even having to go up to one in the street, if that’s something your worried about. Which leads me on to saying that you as the public are very scary to them. They are putting themselves at risk of violence because of their unfortunate circumstances.
Now I’m not making any excuses, but there is people who are homeless and may have turned to drink and drugs. Hows judging them helping them? Hows giving them dirty looks helping them? Hows calling them names helping them? It’s not. What you don’t realize is all of the above, are going to make them feel even more low, which is then making them turn to those things, after all, what do they exactly have to lose? This is what people don’t realize, not just with homelessness but in general, your actions and your words may not mean much to you, you may think oh well its only words, or a dirty look, but that’s going to hurt someone’s feelings a lot.
Can we just talk about winter. There are people who have froze to death and that is so hard to write without getting teary, because this isn’t okay. There are people out there tonight, who wont be waking up tomorrow. You may just be thinking well why don’t they go to a hostel etc. What people don’t realize is that there is such a strict criteria now, to entitle a homeless person to have somewhere to sleep for the night for free. Justify that one. You can’t. It doesn’t get talked about, you don’t see it in the well known, highly profitable papers, after all, that would highlight the greed of those who could make a difference. We as a country are failing. Failing to help those who are forgotten about.
There are some devastating facts about homelessness.
- There are 150 families a day in Britain that become homeless.
- On average, homeless people die at just the age of 47.
- People who sleep rough on the street are almost 17 times more likely to have been victims of violence.
- One in three people who are sleeping rough, have been deliberately hit or kicked.
- Homeless people are over nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population.
Here’s how you can help. If you don’t feel comfortable about giving money out on the streets, or buying someone some food, there are other ways to help without having to approach someone homeless. You can donate money to the crisis website here: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/donate/ or you can donate to the shelter website here: https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us You can also join an event which can be seen on the links I’ve provided, or fund raise by doing your own thing. There are lots and lots of different ways to get involved.
There is a lot happening in this world that is beyond our control , but this is something we can help control. It can be removed by the actions of us. We can help towards making a difference, rather than look on and do nothing. It doesn’t matter how big or small the amount is that you give, what matters is, it will help give hope to someone’s life. Someone who feels like giving up, who feels like they don’t have anyone, who feels like they are worthless. We as humans should be lifting each other up and heal the hurting.
“No one has ever become poor by giving”
A x
littlemissminor 