Visiting Beacon House- shedding light on homelessness

Through working on this project I’ve learnt many new things, and my perception about homeless people has dramatically changed.

Most of the time we make the mistake of believing that all the people who are on the streets every night, begging, are homeless. However, that is not the case.

The people you see when you come out of the cinema or the pub late at night are usually aggressive beggars. These people most of the time, have a place to call home, sometimes even a job, but they choose to beg just as another source of income.

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Will Quince MP said that people in Colchester are too generous, but they shouldn’t really be. ‘If you give money to somebody, you’re either perpetuating somebody’s drinks or drugs addiction, or in fact you’re not even helping a homeless person.’

Homeless people usually move out of the city centre at night and try to find a place that is hidden and safe. They’d usually have their own space, be that a tent somewhere in the woods, a place within bushes in a park or staircases of derelict buildings. Unfortunately, rough sleepers usually encounter aggression from drunk people, who just came out of the pub and saw them in a shop window. And yet, we look down on homeless people, just because they might look dirty and scruffy. But in fact, they are the most vulnerable people of our society.

The sad truth is that people we see on the streets, the rough sleepers, only represent 5% of the homeless community.

The majority of homeless people will have somewhere to sleep, be that the Colchester Emergency Night Shelter, hostels, Bed and Breakfasts, sleeping on the floors or sofas of friends and family or other temporary accommodation; this is called hidden homelessness.

Up until I started investigating this topic, I had the perception that the homeless people are only the rough sleepers, but that’s a really huge misconception.

Based on my research and direct contact with many homeless people and experts, managers from different organizations, I’ve learnt that the homeless families are facing the most challenges. When for example a relationship breaks down, and you become a single-parent with a very low income, you’re only relying on universal credit and benefits.

I’ve visited Beacon House on numerous occasions to observe the homeless community and to learn about their behaviours and way of thinking. I’ve also closely observed their body-language.

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On my first visit, a member of staff told me to be aware, watch my language because anything can trigger somebody’s negative reaction and be kind with whoever I talk to. ‘There are going to be some brave young men who will approach you, so just be aware of that’, she said.

So I made myself a cup of tea and sat down to an empty table. Soon after, I had a companion, just as I was told. While I was casually chatting with him, I was examining other people. I could group these people into two categories:

1. Some of them are very out-going, talk with other people and could say that they’re friends. Even if their body language was telling me that they’re nervous or feel a bit uncomfortable (maybe it was only my presence), they were happily chatting to others.

2. On the other hand, there were some people who were sitting alone, staring blankly off into the distance, or nervously rocking, playing with their fingers and just minding their own business. They either had a sad face or didn’t show any kind of emotion.

I’ve seen people who were drunk or on drugs, people who were hungover, but also people who were completely sober and were trying to sort their life out.

When I asked them something that was a bit more personal, I encountered two reactions: some people did say bits and pieces, or completely opened up about their experience, but there were people who said: ‘Mind your f***ing business’.

Usually people who visit Beacon House and have their lunch there, shower or do their laundry, are quite well behaved. Most of the time, you wouldn’t ever guess that they were homeless people.

Credit: Blauder flar roofs/ Twitter

Once, we were sitting in the activity room chatting, then all of the sudden some of them started singing and having a good time. It was a very heart-warming experience. These people try to enjoy every small moment and don’t often take things for granted. They don’t have many material things, and learn how to be happy with very little.

Unfortunately, our blissful moment was interrupted by two people who started arguing over a computer space, just because one of them thought the other person has finished and the computer was available for use. The staff members had to evict the building for safety measures.

One of the workers said: ‘This doesn’t happen very often, but people here have different mental health issues and any little misunderstanding can spark a big fight.’

However, my overall experience working with homeless people was very positive. I’ve learnt some things from them, such as: not to take things for granted and to be thankful for everything I have. It motivated me to work harder and never judge people on their physical appearance.