by Georgia Stewart

Created on: December 11, 2009

A day can seem like an extremely long time when there are continual obstacles and difficulties to overcome. To some of us managing to stay alive and healthy for a whole year is an unimaginable feat. Homeless people cannot relax for a minute because they are always wondering where the next meal will come from and where they will sleep that night. I challenge those who have comfortable homes to live in to sleep rough on the streets for a week without becoming discouraged, hungry, somewhat frightened and without feeling alone and lost.

Every human being requires a sense of security, nutrition, clean water, warmth and companionship in order to feel nurtured and sustained. These needs are constant and this is exactly why homeless shelters should be open every day and night of the year. The weather might be warm and sunny enough for people to sleep in the open air in the summer but they still require positive social contact and being shown that they are cared for.

Homeless people have needs that they require help with such as medical conditions, either physical or physiological and in order to have any hope of having them met they need understanding people to confide in and to point the way. Very young homeless people are forced into situations where they turn to unthinkable means to earn money in order to eat and to stay warm.

There are certain homeless shelters, in various countries, that will open their doors at night when the weather is literally freezing so that homeless people can have somewhere warm to sleep but that only open in the daytime to hand out food in warmer seasons. My question to them is if they can manage to do it for several nights per year or even throughout  the colder months why can they not do it every night of the year? Human needs do not cease when the weather is kind.

Homeless shelters should not be the sole responsibility of the few admirable people that volunteer but should be the concern of everyone! We can all donate a few coins weekly, blankets, tins of food or even an hour of our time occasionally. Why is it that many people would rather give homeless people a wide berth when they see them huddling in doorways than offer some sort of help?

Often we forget that we are all part of the human race, one race in which we are all related intrinsically. We perceive an unkempt young girl or a rough looking old man with long hair and whiskers as something other than our daughter or grandfather. They could so easily be our daughter or

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