The trouble with being homeless and unemployed

TTB has enjoyed a frivolous break from the serious but is back in the saddle tackling social issues and turns her attention this week to homelessness and unemployment.

As you may know, The Turquoise Bag spent 4 months last year as a nomad and had a taste of what ‘homelessness’ was like. Well, not really, she always had a roof over her head provided by her kind friends and family but this sojourn reignited a passion for the plight of the homeless and unemployed. So when she read an article the other day in The Tatler about CID (which stands for City Improvement District) she was horrified to read that part of the mandate of UCT’s CID project was “management of the homeless”. Management of the homeless, I say. Whoever thought of such a concept? It sounded as if this group was proposing setting up a business called Homeless Incorporated and were going to set about well, managing homeless people. Mmmm… TTB does not think the homeless need ‘managing’ (which is really just a euphemism for “making sure the homeless find another suburb to bother”) but they do need homes!

During this nomadic time of utter chaos and moving from house to house as documented in her entry ‘The trouble with being unthankful’, TTB really learned to be ever so thankful for having a house, running water and transport. You see, it’s once your life’s routine is thrown out the back window that you realize how very nice that front door is that you have – however humble it may appear to your covetous eyes. For a long time TTB has been considering this issue of poverty. This blog entry is by no means a definitive exposition of that hefty question: Why there is suffering in the world? C.S. Lewis can definitely say a whole lot more than she can on this subject. The philosophy of suffering would take an age to understand and even then we would still be lost for answers. However the more and more TTB lives in this uncertain world, the more this handbag clutches (pardon the pun!) onto the one thing she is sure of: God has the answers to it all! So, TTB has been humbly asking God to show him some of His ways to change this world.

One only has to drive around the streets of Cape Town for half an hour to find that there are hundreds of thousands of homeless and unemployed people living on the streets. If TTB were to give 1 South African raant to every homeless person she encounters, she’d be bankrupt within a few days! So then, what is a handbag to do? After all handing out a raant here and there might actually do more damage than good to most street people by perpetuating this lifestyle of living on the streets and drug and alcohol dependency. She does not think that all homeless people are on the streets by choice or because of substance abuse. Bad circumstances and a fallen world are often to blame. In fact she is happy to admit that her research into the reasons for why homeless people end up on the streets is very limited. Either way, handing out money to people on the side of the road is not a sustainable solution.

She has been particularly inspired by the work several people she knows have been doing with an organization called U-turn. U-turn has several projects on the go that have a sound philosophy of rehabilitation of street people underpinning it. U-turn uses a 3 step plan: making contact, rehabilitation and reintegration. One of the ways they have endeavoured to make contact with street people is through meal and clothing vouchers. A pack of 5 meal/clothing vouchers is sold at R20 at outlets around the city like The Engen Garage in Main Road, Claremont or Juta Stores in Dreyer Street. Vouchers can also be bought from the U-turn website. Recognising that many people like TTB often want to do something practical for street people but end up giving them money out of guilt or by default, U-turn sells vouchers that can be given to the homeless and then redeemed by them at the U-turn warehouse. They can use these vouchers for food or for an item of clothing and this also works as a means for street people to be introduced to U-turn and if they are willing to make changes, work with the organization to better their lives. Thus, people who genuinely want help are being assisted.

TTB thinks this a great way for people of the public who have a heart for the poor and want to help them in a constructive way to get involved. This way, you are contributing to a reputable organization that is not working on a “hand out” system and thus never encourages change in the individual nor are you giving money to someone who may lack the responsibility to use it for food. Purchasing meal vouchers ahead of time, also means that you are being intentional about caring for the poor and will not hand out cash at the next robot because you are guilt-ridden. Your guilt because of your abundance won’t make a difference anyway! But your cheerful generosity will! Check out their website: www.homeless.org.za