Walk INN - 27 Holywood Road, Belfast BT4 3BA
02895 933232
admin@balcproject.org.uk

Helping Homeless: Belfast Streets Outreach

Helping Homeless: Belfast Streets Outreach

Helping Homeless: Making a Difference for Someone Sleeping on Streets

Helping homeless is something most of us think about doing when we encounter someone living with homelessness on street. Maybe it’s in moment, or sometime soon after we feel like we should do something to help, but many people aren’t sure of best way to lend a helping hand. Should you give money? Should you give food? Should you simply offer a conversation? When it comes to helping homeless, some of these things are more helpful than others, so below are a few pointers that will really help you make a difference.

The first thing to do if you’re interested in helping homeless to any extent is educate yourself, so you can gain some understanding of rough sleepers, without judging them. Learn about reasons someone could end up sleeping rough; it’s often not what you might think. These include a lack of affordable housing, loss of a job, divorce, illness, substance abuse, domestic abuse, amongst a whole host of other reasons. If you’d like to know more about causes of homelessness, some good resources are listed at bottom of this article.

It’s also wise to research local charities, non-profits or shelters which work towards helping homeless, so you can pass on this information to any homeless people you meet. They might not be aware of support available to them might be grateful to know of organisations who can offer them food, shelter or even just a listening ear.

How to Act

One of main things to bear in mind when approaching a homeless person is that they are in fact just that; a person. Helping homeless doesn’t have to be difficult; all they might want from you is a little acknowledgement, compassion to be treated like a human being. A homeless person might spend their whole day being ignored, so a smile a simple ‘hello’ can go a long way towards improving someone’s day.

When striking up a conversation with someone on streets, show respect compassion towards them their situation. Firstly, make eye contact so that they feel valued second, if person is sitting down, try to speak to them at their eye level, by crouching down or asking if you can sit with them for a short while.  One of easiest ways to help is to ask them if there’s anything they need then offer to buy them something if you can afford it. Sometimes this can be as simple as offering to buy them a cup of tea or coffee.

If you see someone who looks to be in immediate danger, call emergency services let them know where they are.

Sometimes homeless person you approach might not want to talk to you, or might not be in an appropriate state of mind for conversation. You can still help by taking time to find out which organisations in your area are geared towards helping homeless people in your area. These organisations – be it a shelter, soup kitchen, registered charity, or non-profit etc – will almost always appreciate your support. Be aware that these helping homeless organisations all have different needs; some may ask for lightly worn clothing, others might prefer monetary donations to provide meals other services to their homeless clients. Talk to them ask what they need if you can help, donate whatever you are comfortable with. Whatever you do, don’t just send a bunch of old clothes or some tinned food etc to one of these organisations unsolicited, as while they’d probably appreciate that your heart’s in right place, they might not be set up to receive these items.  

What to Give

Remember, when you see someone begging in streets, that not everyone who begs is actually homeless. This is why a lot of charities shelters advise that you might not be helping homeless at all by handing out money, which could be spent on alcohol or drugs. While providing short term mental escape from their situation, these do not actually help a person could result in them being left in a worse mental state or in a physically vulnerable condition, unable to look after or protect themselves.  

In many cases, it’s much more helpful to donate food, clothes other useful items, instead of money. In addition to this, care packages containing a few essential, low-cost items are a great way of helping homeless. Below is a list of items to consider giving:

Food & Drink

  • Water bottle or a soft drink
  • Canned food with pull tabs that can be eaten cold, such as tinned fruit or tuna
  • Crackers
  • Peanut butter
  • Cereal or granola bars
  • Cheese
  • Mints
  • Tea or coffee or another hot drink
  • Pet food

You could also consider donating a gift card for a food shop or café (we suggest ones that don’t serve alcohol). This way, they can choose meal they fancy most, even escape from elements for a short while.

Additionally, more more cafes are choosing to try helping homeless with a pending coffee scheme, whereby you can buy an extra coffee leave it as ‘pending’ until someone comes in who can’t afford one. Ask if your regular cafe does this, if so contribute. If they don’t, make a friendly suggestion to their management that they consider starting a similar scheme.

Toiletries

  • Wipes
  • Alcohol hsanitizer
  • Tissues
  • Feminine hygiene products
  • Toothbrush toothpaste
  • Dental floss
  • Nail clippers
  • Plasters
  • Lip balm
  • Comb or brush
  • Deodorant
  • Hlotion

Other Useful Items

  • Blankets
  • Sleeping bags
  • Rucksacks
  • Cups
  • Utensils
  • Books
  • An encouraging personalized note

Helping homeless with a package made up of some of above items is a great way to show you care, though bear in mind that essentials required by a homeless person vary from place to place season to season. For example, in winter, great items to give are gloves, hats heat packs, as well as a decent jacket or even a sleeping bag. However, summer heat means that summer essentials include sun cream, a sun hat, or perhaps a frozen bottle of water to help protect from sun cool down.

Another great thing to include when helping homeless with care packages is a list of free resources helplines in your local community. A rough sleeper might not always be aware of assistance available to them, so a list like this could get them support they need to get off streets.

Giving Clothes

Giving clothes is a great way to begin helping homeless in your area. The below items are always near top of many shelters ‘items we need’ lists:

  • Coats / jackets
  • Socks (new pairs)
  • Gloves
  • Base layers (t-shirts etc.)
  • Sweaters / Hoodies
  • Trousers / pants
  • Shoes

Of course, not everyone is same shoe size as you your old jacket might not fit nearest homeless person who you’d like to donate it to. It’s often better to donate clothes through an organization who can sort them distribute them appropriately. If you have lightly worn clothes consider donating them to a local shelter, but make sure to contact them first ask what they need, before wasting a journey turning up with bags of old clothes.

What to Do Next

Depending on where you live, there might be a local or national organisation nearby, for when you come across a homeless person who looks as though they need a helping hand. For example, Belfast And Lisburn Community Project (BALCProject.org.uk) work in Belfast And Lisburn towards helping homeless in Northern Ireland, by connecting people sleeping rough with local services that can support them.

For ongoing ways to keep helping homeless, you could consider calling up your local shelters to find out which items are needed try source them. It’s amazing what items you can find when you have a clear out, that would be gratefully received by a homeless shelter.

If someone is begging aggressively, or even harassing you, call police report incident. Again, if someone looks to be in any immediate danger, call emergency services to get them help they need.

There are many gestures big small which can contribute towards helping homeless. If you’re looking to work towards helping homeless, you can do so with our “Walk INN To Help The Homeless” Project, by Donating, Shopping in our charity shop, Volunteering in our outreach project many more… by donating shopping in our charity shop this means every penny we raise is important to us, through our fundraising, as with all aspects of our work, we are committed to working in line with our values of being trusted, supportive, ambitious to help get homeless people of streets for good.

PROJECT FUNDRAISING

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,