A Shelter for Christmas

I spent this Christmas with the homeless & rough-sleepers in a shelter, served by various staff who were all unpaid volunteers.

The homeless accepted into this shelter were lovingly called guests. Staff would not accept any help from guests in even the most menial of chores. They were extremely patient with guests, beyond what I could have tolerated. These volunteer staff were serving their Christian calling, and caring for neighbours.

Guests were fed, clothed, and sheltered, for a few days during Christmas time, with love. Love that money could not have bought or paid for. My heart goes out to that dedicated team and their selflessness.

This leads me to something I have been pondering for a while. If a charity can charge and afford to pay top dollar, it is abusing it's charitable status and the taxpayer.

I have had an inside view of many charities in the past decade. The bigger ones seem far worse. Paying top wages is not sustainable for a charity. But that is exactly where many charities find themselves. And then, their entire focus shifts towards making more money to pay top wages, even employing additional resources towards this cause. They have lost their original cause, and become slaves to their pursuit of money.

Charities have recurring issues retaining paid staff. They end up employing those who can't find any other employment, and pay them minimum wages. Senior execs gobble up the lions share, and the rest get minimum wage or zero-hours contracts. Philanthropy is being abused too.

What money can't buy, love can! You can find good people who freely volunteer for causes they are passionate about. I am coming to this opinion that such charities and cease to exist, if no one would volunteer for them.

This setup was refreshing. staff were unpaid volunteers with a drive & passion to serve. They came from various churches, and either together seamlessly. They cared for tramps like me who had walked in from the streets. Within a day or two, everyone looked much more presentable and civilised.

Guests were given tough love, and subjected to a strict timetable. Like a boot-camp perhaps :) but without the hard labour. I think it did a world of good for most of the guests. Some couldn't cope, and left. Some were chucked out after multiple warnings for bad behaviour. Some came in just before the doors closed for the night, and left as soon as the doors opened in the morning. Some stayed in all day, appreciating this brief respite from external elements.

This was a safe place. Staff were strict about physically checking for weapons or drugs. Zero-tolerance for disrespect towards our guests was enforced.

I became friends with many guests. Some have regular jobs, and some have irregular work hours. The hardest hit are the ones who finish work late at night. Shelters shut their doors early. Many are extremely capable and very intelligent.

It seems the major concerns of the homeless are avoiding criminal elements seeking to prey on the vulnerable. Apparently the police turn a blind eye.

Some become victims. Then enter a life of crime themselves. Slowly at first. They end up as customers, pushers, runners, or mules. That path only leads deeper into darkness.

Some are on the streets because they are illegals in this land. They are mortgaged in debt to people smugglers.

tbc