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A
HomeWithout
A
HeartBy Jordie Black
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What this book is not...This is not a book of meaningless facts
and figures about homelessness. This
book will not tell you how many people
were made homeless last year or how
many empty homes there are in the
country.
Introduction
We all have an opinion on the
homeless, whether were indifferent,
call them lazy, or do all we can to help,we all have an opinion.
Just like our opinions, we all have
stories to tell, and just because you lose
your home does not mean you shouldlose your voice either.
This book tries to make us think
differently about homelessness. This
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involved with, whether we like it or not.
Weve all walked past a homelessperson. Perhaps weve given them
money, perhaps weve bought them a
sandwich, or perhaps weve walked on
by and not even noticed they exist.
There are many reasons why people
become homeless. Often, its substance
abuse; mental health issues;
breakdown of family relationships; or
losing a job and the struggle to keep upwith the cost of living.
There are a variety of reasons why
people become homeless, all just as
relevant as each other. However, one
core reason ties all these issues
together. The common denominator as
to why people become and struggle to
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escape from homelessness is lack of
friendship.
Lack of friendship
Homelessness, I feel, is due to lack of
friends.
Im going to ask youto imagine your
best friend. If you knew they were
likely to become homeless, would you
help them? Would you let them stay at
your house for a few weeks and thensay, sorry, but you have to go now, do
you not have anywhere else to go?
Youve done your best, you tell yourself.
They will have other friends, you
reassure yourself. However, this isntalways the case. Your friend will
probably say yes because its
embarrassing and degrading for them
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to admit you were their last hope.
Imagine, you were their last hope.
This is when your best friendwould
probably spend their first night on the
streets.
Now imagine this scenario:
You havent heard from your best
friend for a while. At first you didnt
even notice because youre busy with
life. When do you eventually start towonder where they are, you give them
a visit. You find they are not home. Its
odd; you see countless letters in their
porch and it looks as though they
havent been home in a while. You givethem a ring, the phone is disconnected.
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Bewildered, you wonder home. On your
walk home you hear a voice;
Spare any change, love, croakyyet
completely recognisable: Its your best
friend. They are bedraggled and
forlorn, but its definitely them. Whatdo you do? Do you take them into your
home? Do you pay for their rehab? Do
you give them money to get out of debt,
or do you just walk on by?
Could you honestly walk past a friend
and not help them if you knew they
were in need?
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A
Heart
Without
A
Home
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Stories and voices
From the conversations I had with the
homeless, two stories stuck with me.
The first account came from a man
called Tyler. Tyler had become used to
a dysfunctional lifestyle. He wasbrought up around drugs and alcohol.
He became frustrated with his lack of
opportunities but still managed to
support his young family.
Tyler admitted supporting a family at a
young age was hard and he made many
mistake with money. However, these
mistakes occurred because he was
trying to create a life for his family. He
was determined to give her a better
beginning.
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As a result of these mistakes, Tyler lost
his partner; she went back toManchester taking their daughter with
her.
Tyler couldnt afford the rent by
himself and he couldnt afford a depositfor a new house. He had no one else he
could go to for help and spent the
majority of the next year on the streets.
He was optimistic things would get
better; his daughters 4thbirthday was
what kept going. When youre at your
lowest, all you need is some hope,
something to hold onto, to tell you to
keep going.
Ihad it all planned out rightI was
going to save the money I gotyou
know, from begging. I was gonna save
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the money and get a ticket to
Manchester. I was going to surprise mylittle girl and show her I never gave
upHer name was Francis, did I say
that already?
Tylers daughters birthday was threemonths ago. I asked him why he hadnt
managed to see her.
I had it almost saved up, in my little
bag. I was sat herewhere I always sit
and one night I saw a man giving a girl
a hard time. I thought they were play
fighting but then it got serious and no
one else was helping the girl. I went
over to helpbut the man pushed me
back and took my bag.
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I asked Tyler what he was holding on
for now and he laughed and saidFranciss 5thbirthday.
Tyler had no idea where Francis was;
apart from, they went to Manchester.
Tyler would have had no way ofcontacting his ex-partner once he got to
Manchester, and I dont think that
mattered. What Tyler wanted, like so
many homeless people, was a little
something to cling onto; a littlesomething to keep him going through
the darkest days of which there were
many.
The next story Id like to tell is
about a man named. Robert has been
homeless since he was 22; hes now 43.
He said, he loves being homeless. Some
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of the greatest friends hes ever made
have been from the streets.
When you all have nothing, theres
nothing to be jealous of, no one is
greedy, and we all help each other out.
I asked Robert why he seemed
nonchalant about being homeless.
When I first ended up on the streets, I
tried so hard to get out of it. I did
everything they told me I should, but Ijust couldnt get permanent housing.
There were people with greater needs,
I was okay with that.
Robert told me that being homeless isall about adapting. Hes adapted to a
world where society deems him less of
a person than others. What was
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Im not too interested in the money
really. I get enough to live and thats allI need. I like when people talk to me.
Theres one man who talks to me on his
way to work so I make sure Im always
here at the same time in the morning
for a chat. Its nice to have friends.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions:
1.
I have too much of my own thing
to do, how do you expect me to
think about the homeless?
Theyre not my friends, theyre
not my problem?
I completely understand that we all
have our own problems and we all have
to face our own battles, but why, when
we tuck ourselves into bed at night,
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a.
Personal circumstances
beyond their control.b.
Addiction to substances
c.
Loss of job
d.
Relationship
breakdowns
e.
Service men are leftunable to work.
f.
Mental health
g.
No support
h.
Sometimes its their
own choicei.
Lack of jobs
j.
Divorce, abuse, crime
k.
Capitalism necessitates
poverty
l.
They fail to choose toget help from charities
when its there for
them.
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m.
Poor social welfare
system.n.
Immigration
2.
Is anyone to blame for people
becoming homeless?
a.
Beyond the personscontrol
b.
Individual choices lead
them to become
homeless but blame
shouldnt be placed onthem
c.
Us a country no
support.
d.
Collective fault
e.
Themselvesf.
Capitalism system
isnt broken, it works
perfectly to ensure a
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minority of people hold
the majority of thewealth.
g.
No-one is to blame
h.
There is support out
there but no-one trusts
the people offering thesupport.
i.
Government
i.
Not funding
essential
services to helpprevent
homelessness.
ii.
Demonising
them
iii.
Wealthunevenly
distributed
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3.
Do you do anything to help
the homeless? If yes, what? Ifno, why?
a.
Give directly to the
homeless on the street.
b.
Sometimes give money
c.
Sometimes buy bigissue
d.
Chat to them
e.
Buy them lunch
f.
Donate
g.
Charity donationsh.
Give to the people
dont trust charities
actually help.
i.
Buy them lunch but
never give them moneybecause theyll spend it
on drugs/alcohol.
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j.
Volunteer with
homeless charity, crisiswhen I can.
k.
Hard to know the right
way to help.
4.
How do you think our society
perceives the homelesspopulation?
a.
Wealthy people look
down on them.
b.
Working class can
empathise.c.
Sometimes sympathy,
sometimes indifferent.
d.
I hardly notice them.
e.
Negative perception
we perceive thesituation as their fault
and dont help them
because of this.
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f.
Contempt
g.
Press paints them aslazy.
h.
They need help that
even the few homeless
shelters cant offer.
i.
Disdain, homelessnessis still a taboo.
j.
Delinquents.
k.
Bain to our society
l.
Ignored.
5.
What can we do to alter theperception of the homeless in
our society?
a.
National drive to offer
support to the homeless
community.b.
Put posters up in city
centres to show theres
a wide range of issues
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why homelessness
happens.c.
Break peoples
misconceptions
d.
Open communication
homeless people still
need a voice. If weheard their voice wed
have a different
perception of them.
e.
More should be done to
prevent homelesspeople becoming
isolated
f.
More education on
homelessness in
schools.g.
Stop asking what they
couldve done to avoid
becoming homeless, and
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start asking where it
was that we failed themand why we continue to
do so.
h.
Stop making them a
stigma, offer mental
health treatment, drugalcohol rehabilitation
and help them integrate
back into working
society.
i.
Awareness of thereasons why people
become homeless.
j.
Humanise the people
who find themselves
without a home.k.
Dissolve the social
stigma that every
homeless person must
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be an alcoholic or drug
user.l.
Create open and helpful
dialogue around
homelessness.
m.
Talk about homeless
like its something wecan combat rather than
something that irritates
us.
n.
Raise awareness about
the charities that canhelp those who become
homeless.
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