For 3 years in a row Melbourne has been voted the most liveable city. Out of 140 cities, Melbourne was given perfect scores for health care, education and infrastructure.
For Victoria’s 23,299 homeless I’m not sure if this would be true for them. One in three of those are children under the age of 12. And almost half were under the age of 25. (2006 census)
For more info see : It takes a home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jb9naGAiu3k
Ever spent a day shopping, spent lots of money and then walked past a homeless person and felt guilty?
If you shop online for music, electronics etc at Homepage for the Homeless you can donate up 15% from your purchase to youth homelessness via Ladder – a charity run by AFL players.
Step 1: Set ‘Homepage for the Homeless’ as your homepage.
Step 2: Click through a ‘keyhole’ before you shop online.
Step 3: Shop away, and up to 15% of your spend will be donated by the store to help Australia’s homeless – with no extra cost to you.
Yesterday I bought some pizza slices on my way home from work. I had 3, for $5. Just enough to fill the hole before I get home. As I was just about to attack slice 3, a beggar came up to me in the street, and asked for money. I awkwardly hid my body language of a person about to take a bite of dinner, and smoothly transitioned it into an offer, of my last piece of pizza. Immediately the small silver stubbled man spoke from under his cap that he needed money for a place to stay tonight. Not pizza. Now I didn’t want to give money today. My daily account was a bit short, with only $20 left. Payday was 2 days away. I said no. He replied in disgust “I don’t know how you people can sleep at night… you can give money. you know you can. But you won’t. You just don’t give a shit”. I held back the temptation to inform the man i worked for an org that supported homeless people and instead awkwardly removed my self from the conversation, and continued home munching my pizza. it had gotten cold.
Reflection by Mitch Lovell :: Year 9 :: Bentleigh Secondary College
On friday we went to the city to learn about an organisation called urban seed. The organisation helps homeless people and drug addicts.
They talked about different types of homelesness . I learnt that being homeless doesnt always mean you’re a hobo living out of garbage cans. She explained how they gave out free meals to anyone. They do this so the homeless people could eat if they needed to and it also helps the homeless community socialise with business people they see walk past everyday. They do this because when the business person sees the homeless person (after they have shared a meal together and talked) they dont see him as a hobo, they see him as that guy john they had lunch with the day before.
They also run another program where anyone can come and play laneway cricket. The reason for cricket is not only for homeless and non homeless people to interact; its also so people can have a sense of belonging and to feel that they have achieved something.
I think going to urban seed was a great experience and it taught me alot of stuff i didnt know about homelesness.
http://www.melbourne.homeless.org.au/
Check out this site- lots of great info available here.
Fact: Not all homeless people are mentally ill
· Mental illness – such as schizophrenia – tends to first occur when people are young, at a stage when people are completing education or starting a career.Mental illness can seriously disrupt this process and lead to unstable job and housing careers.
· The majority of mentally ill people live in their own homes in the community and usually receive support from families and community health services.
· A recent study has shown that only 30% of homeless respondents had mental health problems prior to becoming homeless.
· There is evidence to suggest that being homeless impacts badly on people’s mental health – with 53% of homeless people in a recent study reporting that they developed mental health problems after becoming homeless.
(Source: The Mercy Foundation ‘Myths about homelessness’ fact sheet)
Fact: Homelessness could happen to you!
No one is immune from potentially becoming homeless. Studies have shown that just a few unfortunate events can turn someone’s life around completely. It may be the loss of a partner, an unexpected expense or an eviction at short notice.
(Source: The Mercy Foundation ‘Myths about homelessness’ fact sheet)
Fact: Families with children form the largest group of people who are homeless. (Homelessness Australia)
For more info check out this PDF’s from Homelessness Australia.
Homelessness and Children
