Homelessness - what's after?

Homelessness – what’s after?
Introduce the subject of homelessness into a conversation and you’re almost guaranteed to get an extreme reaction. A reaction that is either a compassionate declaration of action to help people who have hit misfortune, or a politicized lecture on why people shouldn’t be helped, but should perhaps be shipped out-of-province.

Homelessness is not a single issue. It is also not a one-size-fits-all solution.
So… let’s forget about the word “homelessness” for a moment, and consider people.

What about ‘George’? A developmentally disabled more mature adult from BC, George’s family are not in close contact with him. He has a history of living on the street, but that is long in his past. Now he lives in a bachelor suite in a supported (staffed) community, collects a pension that he’s learned to manage, and volunteers every day in an office, running errands or helping where he can.

Or we’ll consider ‘Robert’. A Vancouverite who accepted help to give up alcohol, go back to school, and get himself back on-track to the middle management work that he did before life on the streets.

Or ‘Bill’. A widower, now in retirement housing, who needed help to sort out the paperwork to get housed, to receive his pension. Lost without his wife, he had found himself on the streets, a homeless senior citizen, until offered some direction.

Or ‘John’. A 20-something who ended up on the streets after his Mom passed away, and the relationship with his Dad deteriorated. Given just a little encouragement and help, he is completely on track with full time work and his own condo. And he and his Dad are working on their relationship.

Are there stories that don’t have a happy ending? Sadly, yes, there are. But for the people that we can make a difference for, we do.

You can too.