Topic Tuesday// Housing Insecurity & Homelessness// Tues 26th July 2022 7-8:30PM AEST

There are many external factors at play when it comes to housing insecurity and homelessness – for example, extreme wealth inequality in Australia and around the world, as well as many other factors.

Knowing that many of us can feel that homelessness or housing insecurity is in part something we might have been able to prevent – does appreciating all the external factors at play help you to feel a bit less hard on yourself?

Having stable housing i think also relates to a feeling of belonging and feeling safe.. the constant fear of being witout a home is awful. i rent and there is so much fear, epecially at the moment where there is nothing available anywere and houses selling fast for good prices, the worry that the landlords will sell is horrible.

Welcome @Millieme 😊

@chibam thank you so much for sharing your perspective!

What you're saying sounds a bit similar to what @Patchworks was saying about the importance of being part of a community in order to truly feel at home 😊 Our social connections and environments are definitely important in this context

@Shaz51 I really like what you wrote too, especially the part about having your own belongings around you... That's one difference in rent vs own, I like to be surrounded by art and some rentals have no picture hooks nor allow them (without owner's permission).

@TideisTurning does appreciating all the external factors at play help you to feel a bit less hard on yourself?

The wealth inequality is stark sometimes when I see cars on the road that cost way more than my house I once owned. And the low vacancy rates and skyrocketing rents do make me fearful too @Millieme !

I don't think it makes me feel less hard on myself though. To explain that, when I am not mentally unwell I can do everything possible to set myself up for safety, stability and security. Sometimes it works and I get through an episode without a relocation or short stay with family; other times I end up relying on others until I can recover and start over. So I take some responsibility for it is what I'm trying to say

What a great way of looking at it @chibam. There's that sense of a more intimate, closer relationship/s which necessitates shared living space to reach that deeper level you're describing.

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@TideisTurning wrote:

There are many external factors at play when it comes to housing insecurity and homelessness – for example, extreme wealth inequality in Australia and around the world, as well as many other factors.

Knowing that many of us can feel that homelessness or housing insecurity is in part something we might have been able to prevent – does appreciating all the external factors at play help you to feel a bit less hard on yourself?

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Regarding my different take on "homelessness", these issues really tangle me up and prove to be a major obstacle for me.

Money can't buy people (at least, it can't buy their hearts and souls), so financial wealth, to me, is not a route to the end of "homelessness". If I won Lotto, I could buy the bricks and morter; I could even buy the land in a safe, low-crime neighborhood to build it all upon.

But could I truly buy myself a family? Because a family it what I truly want. I think I could stand living in a run-down old horse-drawn wagon like a gypsy, if I got to live like that alongside my kindred spirits. Wealth isn't my route to happiness.

But when people look at my predicament, they all insist on believing that all my woes a rooted in my lack of money. They can't seem to look beyond that. Even the therapists can't see that my relationship poverty is a far more pressing issue then my financial poverty.

I can't communicate with these people. They just don't want to listen to my grief. Hence, I can't get any help whatsoever to find the people who will be my home.

Maybe the fault's on both sides. I must admit, I'm not very good at listening to all their commentary about my financial state. Maybe I'm just as much to blame.

Please let me know if I'm hijacking this conversation and taking it in directions that nobody else wants to go.

Very true @Patchworks

My husband was in 17 rentals in 16 years, very hard

My adult step children find it very hard, wish we can help them somehow xx

Hi sorry I'm late, I have never been homeless but I have done it really tough, for 12 years I had no income, I had no fridge, no hot water (I had cold showers year round) I had to hand wash cloths. I could only turn my tv and heating on for 2 hours a night. I used to walk every day, I could not afford shoes so I tied bits of lead to my feet to fill holes in an old pair of shoes.

Only in the past 8 years have I had an income. It is still hard but I'm in a much better position than most.

I really feel for the homeless in our society. Life is so so hard.

That makes sense @Patchworks, though I'm sorry it's something you're having to try to navigate- it sounds like it can be really tough, especially when you may've already been struggling to take care of yourself. I'm hearing a lot of self awareness, self accountability and also tenacity in terms of being willing to try again and start over.