No Room at the Inn
Going into The Minster, Ilminster, this week to visit the Christmas Tree
Festival, I passed by the static display with the sign ‘No Room’. It was
clearly intended to highlight the plight of those refugees that have dominated
the news this year and also those closer to home without a roof over their
heads, at this particularly vulnerable time. There are no easy solutions, but
as both a Samaritan and having been homeless myself, albeit temporarily, on two
occasions, once during my childhood, and again as an adult, I have some small
understanding of what it feels like.
Life is certainly much more complicated now. The reasons someone finds
themselves homeless can be many and varied. For those fortunate enough to have
enjoyed a stable, happy, life it can be difficult to understand what has caused
the situation. That is if we want to take the time out of our busy lives to
gain that understanding. Passing by scruffy unkempt individuals huddled in shop
doorways, with a Heinz variety mutt in tow, glazed eyes, indicating possible
drug use, and a roll-up clamped firmly to their mouths, can make it hard for
‘normal respectable people’ to show much sympathy.
Increasingly, drug and alcohol abuse, along with mental health issues.
are a significant factor. All can contribute towards behaviour that those at
home, and at work, find unacceptable. Violent outbursts, destructive behaviour,
stealing to fund a habit, self-harming; the list is endless. Such behaviour,
which can be damaging to others, especially children, must never be tolerated,
but what worries me is our failure to look beyond the outward symptoms to get
to the root cause of the problem.
We all make decisions in our lives, some of which can have devastating
consequences. In my adult life, I have on three occasions provided homeless
accommodation, twice for individuals and once for a family, on Christmas Eve,
with no deposit, no references. Whilst extending the hand of friendship has not
always been without problems, I have rarely had my trust misused.
In my own case, the first time around, my mum, a single parent with
three young children, having left my violent father, took us to live with my
grandparents. Then the bailiffs turned up and literally turned us out onto the
street because my feckless grandfather had spent the rent money. My mum and
siblings went to a homeless shelter, before going to stay with a distant
relative. I, at age 10, and being the eldest, was farmed out to mum’s work
colleague for the time it took my mum to sort us out. We ended up living in one
room in a shared house, where we had to avoid stepping on the used needles
strewn on the ground outside.
Later in life, on leaving my husband, despite being halfway way around
the world, with no job, no home, and no money, I was fortunate that a friend offered
me use of her house whilst she was working away.
In the absence of much close family I cherish other relationships. I
have been blessed with a strong network of friends who have helped to pull me
through difficult times. They are my lifeline. Sometimes a lifeline is all it
needs to keep someone hanging in there while all around them their lives are
unravelling. Which is why organisations like Samaritans are so important. And
why, especially at Christmas time, we need to show some compassion. Those selling
The Big Issue ARE trying to help themselves.
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