By Brian Moore
AS a long-serving Vincentian, many people ask me, “Where are these homeless people coming from”?
I tell them that some of these unfortunate people are squeezed out of their homes by the unrelenting movement of real-estate capital into traditionally low-income/rental boarding houses and residential areas which are all that people on low incomes or the poor can afford.
This cycle serves to widen the gap between the rich and the poor in our country.
It is indeed a sad insight into the future wherein people housed will become homeless.
The reality of homelessness, inadequate housing and the lack of affordable housing in Australia is nothing short of a national disgrace.
The reality of this sad situation is that it undermines the life and the dignity of many of our brothers and sisters who do not have a decent place to live.
In the process many lives and families are destroyed.
The reality of homelessness is that many families and individuals today are living in filthy camps, under bridges, squatting and sleeping in their cars. How can we countenance the development of expensive condos and units and allow housing for the poor to diminish?
How can any concerned Christian person fail to note that the infrastructure of affordable housing is falling apart and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency?
It saddens me that some of these unfortunate, lonely, homeless individuals and family members connected more with cats, dogs, birds and plants more than they do with human beings.
This is not so much by choice; it is really a result of human disregard.
Mortgage, rental and utility charges are continually skyrocketting, with some families and individuals only a couple of weekly wages away from being homeless.
We as Christians must view and confront this lack of affordable housing in light of the Church’s view of housing.
It is not a commodity that can be brought and sold like a flash car or a trip overseas.
Affordable housing is a basic human right.
This right is embedded in the theological truth that every human being is created in God’s image. Should this right be denied, an injustice is being done.
The society in which we live has the responsibility to protect life and the dignity of every person by providing the conditions where that life and that dignity is not undermined.
I commend the continued actions of the St Vincent de Paul Society across Australia in assuring that people are not denied their fundamental economic right to decent housing.
It is pleasing to note that the Annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout will be held once again this year on Thursday, June 19, in Brisbane and many other venues throughout Queensland and Australia.
We give prayerful thanks to Almighty God for all those wonderful chief executive officers, members of the Vincentian family and volunteers involved in the sleepout. Their genuine caring concern for the welfare of the homeless is evident by the way they have assisted the society in the pursuit of raising funds to put a roof over the heads of these lonely people who continually search for someone to listen to them and care about them.
Brian Moore is the former Queensland state president of the St Vincent de Paul Society.
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