Homeless - not Hopeless

Big Sleepout 2014 poster David MacGregor

The mayor of Auckland loves the meme 'a more livable city'. I do to - but I think everyone who lives here should be able to enjoy not only the natural beauty and the hum of a modern place - but also somewhere to call home. I'm not saying everyone should have a place on the northern slopes of Herne Bay just because they want one. But I do think everyone who needs and wants shelter at night or a modest place to call their own and feel safe and warm should have access to that.

That's what the Lifewise trust do. They find ways of getting the resources available to the people who need them most. That's part of the crazy that is homelessness. Often services are available but the people they are for don't have access. Some don't know how. Others have bias against the agencies that can and do help - like police or CYFs.

This year the campaign's focus is youth on the street. They are more vulnerable. very young children are on the street because it sometimes seems preferable to home - their own or a foster home. But it makes them vulnerable to predation, illness and the obvious risks associated with life on the street.

It's not hopeless. The Lifewise Trust have been chipping away at the problem and make real gains. Even one kid given a chance to reintegrate into the mainstream makes it worth the effort.

I'm participating in The BigSleepOut again this year. The event raises awareness and, importantly, money to help make the problem go away. I'm asking you for help - You can make your donation here - think of it as a contribution to creating a more liveable city.

Donations may qualify for tax deductions.
Collection of money is independent and securely managed by GiveALittle - a Telecom Trust project.
The LifeWise Trust

Comments

Johnny Bunko competiton

The Great Johnny Bunko Challenge from DHP on Vimeo . There's a young chap in Indiana, one Alec Quig , who has written to me about creating a career based on a polymathic degree, from which he has recently graduated. He's an interesting young man and his concerns about going forward in life are the anxieties we all face at crossroads in our lives when we are forced to make choices. Dan Pink's latest book The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need might help: "From a New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Washington Post bestselling author comes a first-of-its- kind career guide for a new generation of job seekers.There's never been a career guide like it.the fully illustrated story (ingeniously told in Manga form) of a young Everyman just out of college who lands his first job. Johnny Bunko is new to parachute company Boggs Corp., and he stumbles through his early days as a working stiff until a crisis prompts him to find a new job. St

Ze Frank thinks so you don't have to

Ze Frank appeared on my radar when I saw his presentation among the excellent TED Talks videos . This morning I was reading Russell Davies planning blog in which he referred to a clip by Ze Frank - Where do ideas come from. Here's the transcript: "...Hungry Hippo licks Aunt JEmima [sic] writes, "Are you ever gonna break into song again? Are you running out of ideas?" Hungry Hippo licks Aunt JEmima, that's a good question. I run out of ideas every day! Each day I live in mortal fear that I've used up the last idea that'll ever come to me. If you don't wanna run out of ideas the best thing to do is not to execute them. You can tell yourself that you don't have the time or resources to do 'em right. Then they stay around in your head like brain crack. No matter how bad things get, at least you have those good ideas that you'll get to later. Some people get addicted to that brain crack. And the longer they wait, the more they convince themse

Sexist Advertising and stereotypes

Advertising lives in the short-form world. Because mass media is so expensive the 30 second commercial is conventional and because there is so much clutter simplified signals are essential to 'cut through'. One form of communication short-hand used as a default is the stereotype - "A stereotype can be a conventional and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image, based on the assumption that there are attributes that members of the "other group" have in common. Stereotypes are sometimes formed by a previous illusory correlation, a false association between two variables that are loosely correlated if correlated at all. Though generally viewed as negative perceptions, stereotypes may be either positive or negative in tone." In the 1950's and 60's when men dominated advertising stereotypical impressions of women as inferior or subservient were not only commonplace but usual. It was normal to show women as housekeepers, largely because most wer

ThoughtSpurs

Search This Blog