When a problem is getting bigger
This year I really started to think differently about a cause
that I have been supporting and feel very strongly about. I don’t profess to know everything about
homelessness or government policy but I do think at times that questions need
to be answered and we need to re assess when something is not as effective as
we would like it to be or as it should be based on previous statistics.
For the past 5 years I have supported the CEO Sleep out and also donated training to some of the residence of St Vincent’s De Paul “Kennedy House” in
Goulburn. This meant a great deal to me both personally and professionally and
I felt like we were making a real contribution to fighting a very worthy cause,
Homelessness. The men who attended the training really gained some positive benefits from basic computer training, goal setting and building confidence.
Contributing to the CEO sleep out
As CEO’s we slept outside for a night in winter and raised money in
support of our sleep out, this also brought great awareness to the public of
the problems we have around homelessness in Australia. To see the statistics
every year was just heartbreaking. The ACT has the second highest rate of
homelessness in Australia and we were fighting a good fight to help reduce the
problems and support St Vincent De Paul to keep their services going.
In 2011 I spoke to 300 CEO’s about what our contribution was
doing at Kennedy house
and I was really excited to know we collectively were making a real difference.
This year however I have some serious question yet don’t know where to find the
answers. CEO Sleep-out clip 2011
If Homelessness is increasing and specifically in Canberra over the
past 4 years what are we doing or more importantly what are we not doing? How can this be getting worse not better?
We raise more money; have more programs, more accommodation,
yet homelessness throughout Australia is increasing every year to staggering
numbers.
- If we are raising more money every year why is
homelessness increasing?
- Why should a shelter be shut down just because a Tender changes (we just increased homelessness)
- Why do we need to re open tenders when the programs in place are working? Specifically when this effects human lives, safety and security (the most basic human needs)
- Do our politicians realise a change in government has such a devastating effect on the less fortunate?
If a new tender is required why can’t we ensure the
protection of the programs that are working with the successful tenderer? Opposed
to the new initiatives that cost to set up and run that are not yet tried and
tested.
Last year a new initiative stated “our mission is to keep
people in their homes” and support them, domestic violence support and drug
addiction support, but what about those that didn’t have homes to be able to
stay in them? What about the person that needs to flee for their life or that
off their children? What about young people on the streets because they have no where to go?
In my mind education is the key to choice and the key to
change and I feel very strongly about supporting causes that lead to change,
even if it’s a small change, I guess that’s why I am confused about the efforts
that are made but the increase in the problem. Maybe the education needs to
start with people who are on six figure incomes and don’t understand the impact
of their policy decisions.
Just a thought.
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