It was highlighted to me again today how bad the housing situation really is in Australia. I was interviewing people for Emergency Relief this morning (our welfare part.. so food parcels, help with bills etc.). I got chatting an old guy who was sleeping rough (on the streets) and had been for a long time. He started telling me a bit about his story. This man was a war veteran. He ended up on the streets because he couldn't afford to rent in the private rental market, and was currently on the waiting list for public housing. He said that he expected to be waiting about 2 years for a place. When I asked him what his plan was until then, he replied that he guess he'd have to sleep on the streets, occasionally forking out the money for a room in a motel when the weather was terrible.
I asked him if he'd been in touch with services that assist with emergency accommodation. Usually these places put you up in boarding rooms or something like that. A lot of people try and bunk down in these, usually because they're waiting (for a ridiculously long period of time) for public housing. He said that he'd been to a boarding house, but had had a really bad experience and would prefer to sleep rough on the streets.
Then he described his experience of the boarding house to me, and I had to stop myself from being visibly upset in front of the man I was that disturbed. He told me that when he walked into the place, it smelt of urine and alcohol. The guy who showed him to his room (a paid staff member of the place) had alcohol on his breath. He barely got any sleep that night because his mattress had springs poking through. He woke up in the morning with scratch marks on his body from the exposed springs. When he asked the caretakers of the place he was staying at if he could possibly get a new mattress they replied "shut up you old bag, just turn the mattress around (insert a few not so nice words here too).. I mean was he really asking too much?.. for a different mattress so he could have a good nights sleep?
Well good news- they came and gave him a brand new mattress... but at the same time told him that once the days that the accommodation agency had paid for were over, he better get the F out of there. Needless to say he didn't feel very safe or welcome anymore, so after getting one good nights sleep, he left the boarding room and headed for another lonely, cold nights sleep on the streets. The war veteran, who served our country, is now sleeping in the alcove of the building in the city dedicated to the ANZAC'S. Seems a bit wrong doesn't it?
Another guy, who is in his mid 30's comes into our Life Centre. At the moment he's living out of his car. He parks it in a shopping centre every night, because it's safer there than many other places. I asked him if Public Housing was an option, and he said that he wasn't eligible for it until he was 55. So this guy has another 20 years to wait until he's eligible for any kind of housing. Where's the fairness in that?!
Another young girl I've come across is 5 months pregnant. Currently she's homeless and living in a boarding house with her boyfriend. She's on the top priority emergency accommodation waiting list. So, being young and pregnant, she's in the most extreme category. But the waiting list is 12-18 months for EMERGENCY accommodation. By that time, she will have had her baby, but will still be homeless. How can a young mum have a fair go with a system that seems to be working against her? It makes me SOOO angry!
Why in a "prosperous" country like Australia, do we have people in situations like this? Why do people have to wait ridiculously long periods of time for something that is a NEED not a want. And what the heck is the government going to do about the crisis. It just seems so unfair... something needs to be done.
I'm not sure what I can do. I feel utterly powerless when looking at an injustice that is so huge. I know I can pray about it, but i don't know what I can do on a practical level to fight it. I don't know. What I do know is that I can love these people, and reach out to these people who are fighting against a society that doesn't seem to want to help them out. I feel like giving people food, blankets, water and a cup of coffee at night isn't much, but it gives them dignity, even if it is a small amount.
God needs us all to fight against the injustices of our society. He needs people to fight it at all levels. He needs people to serve food and give blankets to the homeless. He needs people to pray for change. He needs people to work for organisations that assist people to get housing. He needs people to fight for changes in policy and to lobby government. We can all play a part in some way.
Will You?
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