There but for the grace of God go I

There was a discussion tonight, between friends, about the homeless .. especially during the festive season.

A friend's grandson spent Christmas day feeding the homeless. Another friend has discussed doing the same thing next year with her husband. I didn't get the chance to tell them about Number One Son who spent a few hours on Christmas day helping out in the Salvation Army kitchens to feed the homeless in Adelaide.

The homeless numbers in Australia are rising every year.

The only numbers currently available are from the ABS census from 2011, which showed that there were over 105,000 homeless people in Australia. That includes people who are living on friend's and family's couches because they can't afford to pay rent or buy their own homes.

NSW 28,190 (40.8 people per 10,000) +20.4% since 2006
VIC 22,789 (42.6 people per 10,000) +20.7 since 2006
QLD 19,838 (48.5 people per 10,000) -5.1% since 2006
SA 5,985 (37.5 people per 10,000) +1.4% since 2006
WA 9,592 (42.8 people per 10,000) +1.1% since 2006

TAS 1,579 (31.9 people per 10,000) +32.9% since 2006
NT 15,479 (730.7 people per 10,000) -7.8% since 2006
ACT 1,785 (50 people per 10,000) +70.6% since 2006

WHERE ARE PEOPLE STAYING?

Improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out 6%
Supported accommodation for the homeless 20%
Staying temporarily with other households 17%
Boarding houses 17%
Other temporary lodging 1%
“Severely” overcrowded dwellings 39%

HOW OLD ARE THEY?

Under 12 17% (17,845)
12-18 10% (10,913)
19-24 15% (15,325)
25-34 18% (19,312)
35-44 14% (14,484)
45-54 12% (12,507)
55-64 8% (8,649)
65-74 4% (4,174)
75 and over 2% (2,028)

WHY ARE THEY HOMELESS? (Just in Queensland)

Financial difficulties, housing stress, unemployment 25%

Accommodation issues, housing crisis, inadequate or inappropriate dwellings 34%

Domestic violence and relationship issues, time out from family, family breakdown, violence and assault 24%

Health reasons, mental health issues, substance abuse issues 3%

Other - transition from care/custody, lack of support, discrimination 13%

Having worked with CES and Centrelink for 16 years, I dealt with people who found themselves homeless. Women whose husbands physically and/or sexually abused them. Women whose husbands kicked them out of the home because they found somebody else. Women whose husbands had some kind of addiction, be it alcohol, gambling or drugs who lost all of their money and hadn't paid rent, or other bills. Women whose husbands passed away and their pensions weren't enough to pay the rent on their own. Teenagers who were sexually abused by their step father or other family member and left to escape the abuse. People with mental illness who were incapable of managing their finances or whose life skills were so limiting that they couldn't look after themselves and who had no family to intervene.

Not all of us are lucky enough to have family to fall back on. 

The list of reasons for homelessness is almost endless and there was a time during my life as a single parent that I came very close to being homeless with my 3 children, so I am very sensitive to situations that put people in the homeless category.

Unless you've been there, as with most of life's 'situations', you simply cannot understand how it feels to be there. 

We all make bad life decisions sometimes. We marry, or live with men who treat us badly or mistreat our children or who develop mental illness or who desert us or pass away and leave us with nothing. 

We may have been abused by parents, step parents or other family members that leave us with such low self esteem that we feel incapable of caring for ourselves, incapable of working or we feel undeserving of a home or a happy lifestyle.

Life is not always kind to us all. 

As my oldest daughter has told me often ... there have been many occasions, especially in her youth, where she had found herself in dangerous or risky situations and any split second decision could have changed her future in so many different ways. Not all of them good. Some of them, very very bad. She explains that sometimes, it was pure luck that sent her in the right direction. So she is very aware of how quickly and inexplicably life can take you down a very bad path from which it's difficult to return.

So I, and many of my friends have lived a very blessed and charmed life where we haven't had to worry about such things as homelessness. We should be grateful for that and we should never judge anybody in whose shoes we have not walked. 

Nite all.