by Nicky W. Small

Created on: October 13, 2009   Last Updated: October 14, 2009

Homelessness is a problem in most countries. Every bigger city and town has its homeless population. We walk by them every day not knowing what circumstances put them into that hopeless situation. We can hear some shocking news every winter, about a homeless who froze to death by the morning on the street. Only few people think about this kind of news deeply.

Most people in the city meet with a homeless person on an every day basis, very often with the same person but hardly anyone asks them about their life or hopes.

There are so many reasons which can make somebody a homeless. Some of them become homeless after a divorce or lack of job. Everyday people usually make a link between alcoholism and homelessness very easily but beneath the surface, there is always an individual story and probably it is easier to survive the day with a drink.

Some of them arrived to the city hoping to get a job and then left without enough money to travel back home or get room to rent. Carrying a small, dirty bag which holds all their possession, they are walking on the streets or sitting on benches day and night. Some people walk pass by them with their head turned to another way not wanting to notice their said faces.

They are humans as well with feelings and they have stories to tell but only a few of us are interested.

It is hard, nearly impossible - to get a job when someone doesn't have an address and can't bathe for days. With no job, they can't get back on track and this is an endless, hopeless circle. Some homeless seems to accept their situation and getting small jobs or trying to be helpful to other people. They are selling papers, or helping to put the shopping trolley back to its places in the store's car park.

Helping them is difficult. Many people don't like to give them money, in case the homeless person wants to spend it on alcohol. On the other hand, many of them don't want money. I know some people who put their leftover foods in a container in a plastic bag leaving it by the fence in the evening. The food usually disappears by morning.

I also saw a man who was asking for money at a bus station. He asked the money for food but when a woman wanted to give him a sandwich he refused it and went on his way

They would like to be unnoticed, as many of them feel ashamed by their situation - even if it's not necessarily their faults - but in the meanwhile they would like to have the same treatment as every other human. And that is the right way to deal with them: treat them as a human.

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