Help for the Homeless

In retort to ‘No Help For The Homeless’, which offered a less than favourable view on London’s attitudes towards people on the streets, I thought I’d offer a somewhat cheerier take on the situation. Don’t worry, I’ve not got my rose tinted glasses on; it’s no fun to be between houses and I’m no stranger to the cutting remarks of those who judge people in that situation.

Even working for a charity I still speak to the odd ratbag here who will make a throwaway comment or tell an oh-so-funny anecdote with a homeless person carrying the punch line. Yet not all Londoners should be tarred with the brush of ignorance – some of us want to help.

Quite a lot of us in fact. I volunteered alongside over 500 people this year at Hackney Winter Night Shelter (HWNS), an organisation that opens in the winter months to provide beds and food for people sleeping on the streets. My first ‘shift’ (if you could call it that), comprised of eating biscuits, playing cards and chatting to various folk – volunteers and guests – and it was genuinely hard to distinguish between the two. Everyone in the room was equal, there was no sense that ‘society doesn’t see them as fellow citizens’, as previously suggested.

Homeless people in London are as diverse as the housed people in London. They’re all races and genders, and each have varying outlooks on life, like the rest of us. The people I met were interesting and kind, and I genuinely enjoyed my time there – in fact I was incredibly sad to leave when the shelter closed its doors at the end of March. But I was happy with the knowledge that the scheme had helped house 62 people this year.

It’s naïve to think that if you gave every homeless person a house the problem would be sorted – there’s often a reason why they ended up homeless in the first place, and if this issue is not addressed, they will more than likely be back on the street before long. That’s why HWNS are dedicated to helping the people they find accommodation to make sure they are happy and are given the skills and confidence they need to remain in a stable situation.

I joined the fight to help because I know that pity won’t feed or house these folk, but free time and effort will. Sure Boris could help – but so could you. And a lot quicker than it would take to implement and fund a new scheme of housing. Ignorance is understandable, but that doesn’t make it acceptable.

Image by mattwi1s0n courtesy of Flickr