Social Justice & Homelessness
Not only is homelessness the most basic, enduring cause of exclusion, deprivation and discrimination, in our prosperous nation this social injustice is an emphatic political disgrace.
Firstly 3 key points:
(a) Having an affordable, safe, secure place to call home is an intrinsic part of our lives and a key foundation on which to nurture the well being of our families.
(b) The notion of ‘home’ is about belonging somewhere, being a part of something with other people in a local community. In contrast, homelessness is about disconnection, alienation and inferiority.
(c) Homelessness isn’t only about a few scruffy men in grimy trench-coats curled-up on park- benches hugging their bottles of grog. It’s about ordinary individuals like you and me, and families like yours and mine, under extraordinary pressure in dreadful circumstances.
When people learn that across Australia on any given night, over 105,000 persons are denied a place to call ‘home’, they’re usually torn between astonishment and disbelief!
On one side there’s a conviction that safe, secure, affordable housing – adequate for a person or family’s health and well-being – is a right not a privilege. On the other side, there is a belief, just as strong, that people, homeless or not, must take responsibility for their own housing needs. Consequently many argue that, homeless people are the cause of their condition and deserving of ridicule and exclusion.
This common misconception goes like this:
The homeless are weak and lazy.
How do we know they’re weak and lazy?
Because they’re homeless!
This is called – ‘blame the victim’ cycle!
This perception fails to acknowledge there are many factors outside of their control that push people into being homeless. They have lost jobs or they can’t afford rising rents or they suffer serious physical or mental illness or they have fled sexual abuse/domestic violence – the single biggest cause of homelessness in Australia.
The question is – do these individuals and families have a right to safe, secure affordable housing?
To answer this question I want to focus on the challenges which more than ever before are confronting an increasing number of low-income families.
Because housing prices have soared 147% in the last 10 years, many low-income families are denied any opportunity of home-ownership as they’re simply ineligible for a housing loan.
As a result they’re pushed into the private rental market which on average devours between 35% and a crushing 75% of their weekly income. This leaves very little to spend on basic necessities – good nutrition, adequate health care, clothing, warmth and transport.
They have no other option but to apply for government-supported-housing known as social or public housing. This means the government supplies low-rental housing for those who are in most need and unable to purchase housing or afford private rental housing.
In Victoria, public housing has been promoted by the Liberal and Labor parties as ‘a safety net’.
Unfortunately there’s an excessive waiting list for public housing (over 40,000 people in Victoria) and families usually have to wait in line for many years.
Such is the lack of public housing in Victoria today!
So, for those unable to find long-term shelter with relatives or friends, what’s next?
They have no option but to scramble for emergency accommodation. This is a temporary or short-term-only accommodation in response to a current crisis. It’s organised by the Department of Human Services or community service agencies and usually made available in a variety of places such as hotels and motels.
However emergency accommodation is full to the brim and overrun with demand.
To recap:
- Many low-income families are ineligible for a housing loan
- They can’t afford rental housing
- They fall through the holes in the government’s safety net because of the long waiting list.
- Emergency accommodation is overrun with demand.
For many low income families sinking to this point is the end result of a long line of events and circumstances ending perhaps with a crippling feeling deep inside of emptiness and powerlessness.
Conclusion
Homelessness is repugnant for many reasons not the least of which because it undermines people’s right to and the value of social justice. The resulting loss of dignity and feeling they don’t belong anywhere sabotages their involvement in education, work and local community interaction.
It’s hard to appreciate how profoundly inadequate and powerless living with homelessness must feel. It’s the horrifying crushing weight of poverty of spirit, alienation and inferiority that shoves all of the hope and dreams out of people’s lives. So often they’re imprisoned in the darkness of despair, with many becoming entrenched in the homeless subculture.
Why should we care? You and I and every other person and every family have an indisputable right – which is fundamental to any understanding of social justice – to feel they belong somewhere and are part of something with other people in a local community. This is ‘home’ and it’s the key to understanding what homelessness is like.
God’s message is simple, clear and there’s no escaping it.
We are at our best when we give to another every right we claim for ourselves.