Saving people from the streets
Staying dry is everything for someone who is homeless and who is trying to get through a winter night sleeping rough on the streets. Once wet, they can’t get dry. Wetness makes it impossible to be warm no matter how many clothes are being worn.
So it’s horrifying to hear one of our clients, Damien, talk about how sometimes in Christchurch he had freezing water poured in his sleeping bag while he was asleep on the ground.
The attackers, often drunk, think it is funny. Much worse can also happen to the homeless and it has happened to him, but he just shrugs and says being hassled is just part of the stress of living without a home.
At 21 when most young men are celebrating the beginning of adult life and all the possibilities, Damien turned to living alone on the streets. He had addiction problems, a growing criminal record (only for theft), and a deep sense of hopelessness at his situation.
“I’d burned all my bridges with family and friends and in my life at that stage it seemed to be the easiest option. I was getting away from people’s expectations that I always be good, if that makes sense.”
Damien has spent many years on the streets and many winters, and he’s happy to help us tell the story of genuine homelessness in winter. We helped find him a house a few years ago after he spent 16 years homeless, so he’s seen and experienced a lot.
“When I was sleeping rough, if the birds went silent, it meant someone was around...”
He’s also an example of how even those who have become most deeply enmeshed in the homeless lifestyle can be helped, if they want help, if enough time is spent with them and enough trust is developed.
All our clients suffer extra stress and discomfort in winter, but the hardest hit of all are the rough sleepers looking for somewhere to spend those long cold nights.
Homelessness in Christchurch is not what people think. Many beggars on the streets are not actually homeless and have a bed to go to at night. Their signs will say “struggling” rather than “homeless” because the street code means street justice could be meted out if they claim that falsely.
The instant image is of a figure in rags on a bench seat or sleeping in a doorway who has had a run of bad luck, but most often it is a symptom of much deeper and longer lasting problems. Mental health illness and trauma are the usual drivers and they go hand-in-hand with drug overuse and addiction.
Damien’s story fits this perfectly. He’s articulate and smart and has a strong personal code of honour, but a childhood that included sexual abuse, being raised in foster care homes, then a slide into drugs and addiction from age 13, led to a life in which he cycled through living in jail (for shoplifting) or sleeping on the streets.
Many years ago Damien first found out about the City Mission from a fellow streetie. The streetie saved Damien after he tried to end his life in Cathedral Square because of guilt over some of his actions.
Our social worker Hilary looked after Damien, he slept in our emergency shelters, saw our addiction experts, got food from our Foodbank, received medical help, but stayed on the streets until four years ago when he finally decided to get a house and left the streets.
We are on the frontline in Christchurch looking after homeless men and women. Our Outreach Service patrols the streets regularly to check on them, to see what help they need, and to offer them a place in our shelters where we can really look after them well.
Our Community Outreach Kaimahi Josh says sometimes a lot of patience and time is needed to gain the trust of long-term homeless people who are traumatised, distrustful and often paranoid.
That’s why the simple just-givethem-a-room approach doesn’t work for the hardcore homeless and why taking the time to reach out to them properly and understand them is the most effective approach.
Damien has huge respect and appreciation for the time and effort the City Mission has given him and for the care provided by Hilary and Josh. But the hardness that comes from street living leaves deep scars.
Everyone on the street sleeps with their shoes on so they can move away quickly if they need to. Damien slept on the floor of his new home for the first six months because the bed was too soft and even now after four years he still sleeps in his clothes and doesn’t lie under blankets.
“I have a thing now where I can’t sleep without sound,” he says.
“When I was sleeping rough, if the birds went silent, it meant someone was around and it would wake me up. That was my security blanket.”
But at least this winter he will spend the cold nights indoors and he remains truly grateful for the help he has been given.
Community Outreach Kaimahi Josh does a morning check in around Christchurch Central
How to help the homeless
We take a compassionate and informed approach to helping genuine homeless people in Christchurch. This is how we recommend you interact with homeless met on the streets:
• Don’t give money.
• It’s okay to offer food.
• It’s kind to make eye contact and say hello.
• Call our Outreach Service on 0800 787 855 or email us at outreach@citymission.org. nz if you want to make sure they have been offered help, or if you are a business and they are sleeping outside your premises.
• Call 111 if you have serious concerns for their health or that harm may come from their behaviour.