VCAL Social Justice Camp - Homelessness

The VCAL team departed Echuca on Monday 18th September, heading to Melbourne to partake in an overnight Social Justice Camp with the focus being homelessness.  We visited and worked with a range of charity organisations to gain a better insight to the causes of homelessness and what we, as a society can do, to help. 

Our first point of call was FareShare. FareShare is a charity organisation who rescues surplus food and cooks it for free, nutritious meals for Victorians doing it tough.  The food used is donated and rescued from supermarkets, farmers and other businesses in Victoria. We were fortunate to volunteer at FareShare for three and a half hours, where we not only learnt about food waste in Australia, but also about the reality of hunger in our community.

During this time we prepared and cooked in excess of 750 egg and bacon pies, prepared 400 pastry bases for the next shift and packaged over one pallet of vegie rolls to be distributed to locate charities to distribute to those in need.  Not only did this opportunity allow us to meet VCAL outcomes, it gave us an opportunity to help those in need and to give back to our community. This was a very rewarding, but humbling experience.

We met with Kris from the Salvation Army, in Melbourne’s CBD, who spent time explaining the true facts about homelessness. Did you know the biggest cause of homelessness in Australia is domestic violence? Can you imagine not feeling safe in your own home, I can’t! Did you know that every night in Australia 105247 people are homeless?  And 40% of those people are kids, just like you and me!  By homeless we are not talking about sleeping rough, but “couch surfing.” Yes, couch surfing.  This is where you stay at a  friends or a mate’s homes until they ask you to leave.

 The main point that Kris stressed is that everyone who is homeless has their own story.  So, when you see a homeless person ask, BUT WHY? and when you answer that question, ask But Why? again and continue this for five or six answers and they you will start to see that persons’ story develop before your eyes.  Remember, no one asks to be homeless or wakes up one morning and says, “Today I am going to become homeless.”  It is caused by many unknown factors that have been dealt to this in this life.

Kris concluded this session with a tour of Melbourne CBD and parks, showing us places where people who are sleeping rough stay, the risks they face as well as sharing their stories.  We finished with another strong message that support, both medically and financially, accommodation and food are available at any time it is needed.  However, trust is the biggest hurdle that they face in helping people get back on their feet.

Jules, our presenter from “The Big Issue,” reinforced the messages we heard on Monday from Kris at the Salvation Army, which is people do not choose to be homeless.  Did you know a person who is experiencing Primary Homelessness (sleeping rough) costs between $20 000 to $40 000 (per person) and this money does not help reduce the problem of homelessness, it just puts a band aid, or a quick fix on the problem, without addressing the issue.

We were also very privileged to have Peter, a homeless gentleman, share his story with us.   Briefly, Peter was raised in a domestic violent home as a child, but he sought refuge in his local football club.  This is where he was accepted and supported with love as a family should.  They encouraged him through his apprenticeship and he succeeded in gaining a good job with a company in Building and Constructions.  Up until two years ago, he was living a very comfortable life. However, the company he was working for went broke and his life changed and he was threatened. He decided to run and by doing so became disconnected with his family and friends.  Peter spoke about how people, including family and friends want to know why  he couldn't  pick up a phone and come home.  His answer was simple: SHAME.  He was ashamed of what had happened to him and that he became homeless.  Peter said the support from charity organisations has played a huge role in his life getting back on track.  The Big Issue provided him, not only with a job and income, but more importantly a purpose for life, which brought him the  skills and self confidence that he needed to get back on track and to find employment and start to rebuild his life again. His parting words were that every homeless person working for The Big Issue, wants to be acknowledged, either with a smile or a simple greeting.  It is hard and lonely when  you have no-one to talk to all day, and what does a smile cost?

The camp opened our eyes up to the homelessness issue and allowed as to work with these organisations to make a difference in someone’s life.  We met and achieved outcomes for our VCAL Certificate, but we came away with so much more.  The main messages are: Everyone deserves and has the right to feel safe in their own home.  Every homeless person has a story, one that needs to be told and not judged.  More importantly NO-ONE CHOOSES TO BE HOMELESS.

The VCAL Team