Paper Roof
Posted by: pinkjellybaby on: January 24, 2007
Do you give money to the homeless? Do you think that if you do, it will fund a drug or drink habit? Do you pass by in disgust, or do you offer a cup of tea?
Through my work, i was lucky enough to hear a former homeless man speak about his experience. I think most of the 50 odd people listening were moved to tears by his story.
Forgive me for not remembering his name, but just 8 years ago, he has been a production manager for a large American firm with a turnover of £21m. When his parents became ill, needed specialised care and subsequently died, he lost the house as he couldn’t afford to pay for the care they had recieved. This is how he became homeless. A normal man.
He then travelled to London, sleeping at the airports until he was moved on, and then travelling the night buses trying to get some sleep. He was lucky enough to find a church near Trafalgar Square who allowed him to sleep on their steps. He went into department stores and used their toilets in order to make sure that he was freshly shaved and presentable.
He said that without a home, you cannot open a bank account and when he tired, it was the worst that he has ever been treated. If you are listed as living in a hostal, the library will only let you take two books out instead of 12.
One day, someone from an outreach programme approcahed him, and in his words “asked me the nicest 3 questions i have ever been asked in my life”. Are you ok? Would you like some tea? and Would you like a cigarette?
That programme was run by Thames Reach a charity that “supports homeless, vulnerable and isolated men and women through a range of services, activities and accommodation projects.
Our aim is for the people we help to have decent homes, supportive relationships and fulfilling lives. “
They have people who go out every day of the week and check that people on the streets are ok, and offer help where it is wanted. From there, they try and get them into hostels, make them confortable and finally try and get them into their own homes and get a job.
So, if when you see people on the streets of London, but don’t know if you should help or not, then a good place to start would be by dontaing money or donating clothes, books, music and toiletires
21 Responses to "Paper Roof"
January 24, 2007 at 12:32
Soupy. I often buy tea and a sandwich for homeless people i see about, and they have only ever been grateful. Sure you get the odd ones with a drug or alcohol problem and might tell you where to shove it…. but then again they might just be glad of some food
January 24, 2007 at 13:06
i had this discussion with a friend the other day when we were waiting for our pizza outside dominoes – a homeless man had approached us and asked us for money but we both answered honestly that we didnt have any cash. it was december and about 3 degrees down here. wracked with guilt we wentto the co op and drew some cash and bought him a pie or something i dunno. he was really gracious about and and stodd and chatted to us for a while. we both agreed that what he spent themoney on was none our our business and on a night like that if a bag of heroin makes you stop feeling the cold and wet and misery of sleeping on the streets then thats fine with us.
i used to work for the nhs at a health cnetre for the vulnerably housed – altho i’ve never had the ‘well its thier own fault and they are just spongers etc’ mentality i was ashamed about how ignorant i was about the issue. No person i encountered was homeless through choice, laziness or whatever. Many had substance abuse problems which forces the sufferer to forfeit every single creature comfort in order to feed the disease of addiction – it is a tragic, desperate existance and i wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
non addict homeless people are often adults with severe learning disabilities or sufferer of personality disorders or schizophrenia who for whatever reason may not have family or friends for support/care. This is a difficult concept for most to understand so i often explain it like this: If you are able to look up services, fill in a form and talk to a stranger you will be able to claim benefits, find somewhere to live, appy for jobs etc etc. If you have any of these skills missing then acheiving these things just isn’t possible.
January 24, 2007 at 13:20
i think people sometimes forget that they aren’t all alcoholics and drug users, but a lot of them are normal people who’s circumstances have changed for the worse
also quite a few ex-service men end up homeless…
January 24, 2007 at 13:30
Nice post pinky. I have to say that actually i do support homeless. In our church we put money towards certain charitys that we support. We also send poeple out on missions to other contries to support people who have less than clothes on there back.
I do feel really bad for some of the people in our town. However we do have really good outreach programmes here that help them. They get fed, clothed and watered. They have a community room to stay in during the day and a bed at night.
We also have a thing in our church called street reach or something which helps homeless travellers. Like someone who is from centre London who is stuck here there are people in our church who open up there houses to these people.
If only alot of places were like ours. Not that it is all great here though. I mean these people are still homeless right!.
January 24, 2007 at 13:35
in my experience fabs, churches go a long way to help the homeless. we have a local programme here where they can go and get a shower/meal/change of clothes but also see a nurse etc. i wish more people could be the good samaritan xx
January 24, 2007 at 15:19
In Canada, most homeless people have mental illnesses. This is because in the 80s there was massive shut-down of mental hospital all across the country (for ‘budget’ reasons). And so, most homeless people are very ‘in your face’ and yell at you and are generally weird and off-balance. Of course, this isn’t really their fault and there should be a place for them to go and get proper meds, but there is no funding.
I buy coffee and cookies for a homeless man near my house. He’s about 60 and in a wheelchair and is very nice and wonderful and he always says hi to me.
The crazy woman who screams at me to give her my change and then calls me a bitch because I don’t? Well she gets nothing.
January 24, 2007 at 15:28
I generally prefer to support the Hostels, or the organisations providing support for the homeless rather than giving to the people on the street.
It’s somewhat cynical of me, but I’ve noticed that many of the people on the street seem to be smoking, or drinking, and there just seems something wrong to me about giving someone like that money that they’ll just smoke or drink away, rather than use for food, clothing, etc.
January 24, 2007 at 15:30
jc – then Thames Reach are a good option.
I’m the same about giving to the people on the street, but i get round this by giving them food or a hot drink instead of money
January 24, 2007 at 16:07
im sorry but i think thats really patronising – so flipping what if they spend it on drink and fags – we all pay into the tax system but we dont pick and choose what ppl on income support spend the money on!
if i was homelss i expect id drink and smoke even more than i do now coa well a life sleeping rough doesn’t come with any other crature comforts!
January 24, 2007 at 16:59
How is it helping the problem by giving homeless people the means to support addiction? People with mental illnesses should have proper medication, yes – but people who just want to get wasted so they don’t have to ‘deal’ with their situation don’t get my sympathy (or my money).
I believe that homeless people who rather not be homeless. By giving them food and clothes, or by supporting a charity, you are at least giving them a chance to turn things around.
(Also, I think there should be control over what people on welfare spend their money on – but I am kinda conservative that way. )
January 24, 2007 at 17:34
The homeless population and I don’t get along very well. They’ll come up to me inside restaurants and scream at me at my table (this has happened not one, but twice, and in different parts of the city). And they’ll scream in gibberish.
Or they yell at me over the music playing in their ears from THEIR iPODS and ask me to buy them a meal.
Nope, I won’t give them a cent.
But I do leave clothes I don’t wear anymore folded nicely in a bag under the bridge in a park I frequent, because everyone deserves to stay warm. Even homeless men with iPods.
January 24, 2007 at 18:38
I’m sorry you find it Patronising Tan, and I’m not saying they shouldn’t drink and smoke, simply that I’d prefer that any money I give to help would go on more constructive things like giving them a good meal, somewhere safe and warm to sleep rather than on Alcohol and Fags.
January 24, 2007 at 19:51
i think a lot of people feel like that Tan. We’re always told not to give money becasue we’re funding bad habits and keeping them on the streets… i think that’s what Jason was getting at
people would generally like to feel that they were helping feed or clothe them 
January 24, 2007 at 22:35
That’s sad. You often hear that, that these people were all “normal” or whatever we all think is normal before they had a slide down the scale of luck and became homeless. The few bad apples in the bunch ruin it for those genuine in need. And with all the distrust and worries in everyone’s life, I don’t think it helps the case of the homeless as most people probably wanna walk on asap in case they get mugged, when all these people want is a friendly chat, or honest money for a place to sleep/eat anything.
But as said, you do get the bad ones, who will abuse whatever you give them, and unfortunately, those experiences last longer in people’s mind than the positive ones…
January 25, 2007 at 01:51
Well said. There, except for the grace of God and perhaps a little good fortune, go I, go you or anyone else. Some people don’t want to believe it, but a little bad luck can completely destroy our lives, and once so destroyed, it is difficult to rebuild again.
January 25, 2007 at 09:30
I do what I can to support charities I believe in… I don’t have much money so I donate my time, clothes I no longer need, etc. It is pretty dangerous to approach a lot of the homeless people around here, especially as a single woman. I wish it wasn’t, but practically and honestly speaking, it is. So helping through an organization is what I feel most comfortable with.
January 26, 2007 at 00:16
we’ve got a whole lot of kids and old people out on the streets – it’s heartbreaking. You can’t give the kids money because they’re usually part of a huge begging-ring…and the money all goes to some man who’s horrible enough to set kids out on the street to beg so he can be rich. I usually offer buy them food – something nice like an icecream or something so they’ll have a good time for a bit. I give the old people money though because I figure that they might have families so they might want to spend it a particular way.
January 28, 2007 at 16:10
Great post.
I feel “shy” about approaching homeless people a lot of the time. Shy and guilty, somehow, so I rarely do it. If I see someone selling the Big Issue I always buy a copy and tell the to keep the change.
God, it must be so fucking horrible to be homeless. And not just that, but what you must have gone through to end up without a home in the first place. All those people running away from abusive situations.
It’s easy to forget all this kind of thing when you live in Iceland, so I’m glad of blogs like this that remind me I should be doing more.
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January 24, 2007 at 12:29
See this is the thing. I have lost count of the times I have doggy bagged the end of dinner in a restaurant or at Pizza Hut knowing full well I won’t eat it later and walked past homeless people and WANTED to offer it to them. But I really don’t want to offend them, or make them feel patronised or anything. I know they say that beggars can’t be choosers, but do you see what I mean? I am just scared of causing upset or getting into a difficult situation myself – getting shouted at or told to fuck off.