06/08/2025
This week is national homelessness week, the aim of the week being to raise awareness about homelessness, who it impacts & how we can work together to end homelessness for good in Australia.
Housing is an essential foundation to human beings realising their potential & flourishing in life. Without permanent safe stable & secure housing, it is difficult to have any scope to flourish & realise your dreams & potential in life.
Homelessness is not just about an individual or family being without a house. One of its consequential symptoms is the loss of human connection & dignity in relationships & community. Sadly, it has the potential to become intergenerational.
As individuals, we may never personally be able to solve the scourge of homelessness on the macro level, but we can make a small difference to an individual .
Mother Teresa once said; “help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you." She often spoke these words in response to people feeling overwhelmed by the scale of poverty, suffering & injustice.
Maybe we can fill that little gap in human connection & dignity. Let’s treat people with kindness. Perhaps we can make eye contact as we pass by. Maybe we can be intentional to stop & learn a person’s name. Maybe we can stop & hear their story. These small kind acts, while not solving homelessness tell the person they are of value. In addition to this, perhaps we can become aware of the services in our local community that are available to people experiencing homelessness. Your local council will have access to this knowledge or even a quick search of the internet can tell you of these organisations.
Finally, perhaps we can be aware of projects that support people experiencing homelessness & put some skin in the game by volunteering our time or finances to make some small difference.
Mark Matthews
COACH Community Mentoring, Co-Author
Empowered Faith Communities, Co-Founder
