At our church, West Bromwich Community Church, http://www.westbromchurch.org/ God is bringing us into contact with the homeless community. At present it takes the form of giving them food via the food bank and, once a week opening the church as a soup kitchen. Together with other churches in the town we are aiming to minister to the vulnerable. This has reminded me of the time I used to work in hostels. Please read and pray for those who are homeless.

A symbol of power within a hostel is the keys. With the keys you can have a great effect on the life of the residents. You can use them to deny him access; you can use them to make him feel welcome. Keys can be used to lock your office door and shut out the world. They can deny your client the right to be listened to.

In my first position as support worker I had to carry round a large bunch of keys. There were keys for offices, security doors, panic bolts, filing cabinets, store rooms and so on. I had about 35 keys on that ring. They went everywhere with me. Residents soon learned that a jangling bunch of keys meant that the staff were on patrol!

Attached to the key ring was a ‘key’ called a screwlock. We used this to engage a second lock on each of the flat doors. This meant that the resident could not enter their room without contacting a member of staff first. Very useful if you needed to talk to that resident urgently or they were behind with their rent! However, it could be argued that you were denying the resident the right to enter their ‘home’ freely. The screwlock system could also be used to provide extra security when a resident was away for a day or so. Very often we were asked ‘can you screwlock my door please’?

Some residents learned to hate the sight of a large bunch of keys! They did have a point. To them we used the keys as a punishment. Used without thought by staff, the keys could be a potent weapon. Do as I say, obey the rules, or suffer the consequences.

Each resident in my first hostel had two keys, one to the main entrance and one to their rooms. With these two keys they could come and go as they pleased. To many of them the two keys were a symbol of their growing independence. They were the first positive sign that they had the opportunity to break free of whatever circumstances had led to their arrival at the hostel.

Everyone, whether they are homeless or not need to have a symbol of security. To some it could be their partner; to some it could be their business or job. To a homeless person forced to leave their natural home that symbol is more often than not the key. The key to their own front door where they can enter, lock the door and for a time shut out everyone and perhaps for the first time in their lives feel secure and able to see a way out.

A week at the food bank

The West Bromwich Food Bank is a project set up by my church together with support from neighbouring churches, which aims to supply food to people in our community who for whatever reason are in crisis. Since the project started in December 07 we have fed well over 1000 people (including children) who have not known where their next meal was coming from.

It hs been a steep learning curve for myself and the great colunteers who man the project. We have heard some sad and tragic stories which make you despair of what the country is becoming. This last week I met a guy who was seeking leave to remain in the country but had beeen turned down. This meant he had no recourse to public funds, was homeless and had lost all hope. As I tried to talk to him (he could not understand me very well) he asked a question that to my shame I could not answer. He asked me what advice I could give him regarding his present situation. I could not think of an answer and even now I feel guilty that I could not help.

An agency also contacted the food bank to request help for a woman and her three children who were victims of domestic abuse. They had been relocated but because the husband controlled the bank account she could not access her money. The agency were supporting her with trying to get benefits but needed short term help with food.

A man who was fortunately supported by a caring agency had had his benefits stopped because he had not turned up for an appointment re his job seekers allowance. Because of this, he had to reapply for benefits which meant that he had to wait while it went through the system. The fact that he had not received a letter telling him of the appointment meant nothing to the job centre plus. Because he had missed the appointment (of which he was unaware) the rules said he had to reapply for benefit. Why is is that government agencies never believe what their clients say?

I remember a similar situation when I worked at a hostel in Birmingham, the resident had his benefits stopped because he failed to answer various letters sent to him. The fact that they went to his previous address and he was unaware of the situation meant nothing. After about 3 months and reporting the DSS to the parliamentary ombudsman, the DSS admitted they were wrong and offered a miserly sum as compensation.

As Christians we need to stand up to the injustice that we encounter. It is not enough to say 'oh well, bad things happen'. We must be pro-active and fight for those who have no help, no money and no hope. We cannot turn the other cheek. The only option we have is to fight to overturn the injustice we come across.

Life (and death) on the mean streets of West Brom

Last November I wrote about life on the mean streets of West Bromwich and introiduced you to Alan, a 64 year old who was on the streets, nowhere to live and totally isolated. He was beaten up a few times, his benefits were stolen. Alan had other problems, he liked a drink and would sometimes sell his giro for a bottle of cider and a few quid. At one point, social services were involved but because Alan did not make appointments they eventually closed his case.

We, (the West Bromwich Food Bank) tried to help Alan, we fed him at various times and attempted to talk him into getting help and support so that he could get off the streets. We failed, and did not see him again.

Recently his friend John came to our offices and informed us that Alan had died in a bus shelter, still on the streets, still alone.

Although we tried to help him and he refused that help there is always the lingering doubt that we could have done more. Is it an indictment of our society that in 2009 there are still people without homes, without support and without hope?

In the course of my work I see many people who are in crisis often due to no fault of their own. The 'system' has let them down and because the system is rigid and cannot think outside the box it has created for itself, the misery is compounded and drags on and on, to the detriment of those it is supposed to help.

We have a lot to answer for!

House of Cards

I have just finished watching live prime minister's question time and what a shambles it was! The PM as usual never directly answered a question, the leader of the opposition was, as usual, making mischief, the liberal leader was as usual the liberal leader.

I have tried not to comment on the expenses row, but how can the people that make the rules effectively clean up the mess they have created? Once the story broke, instead of fighting each other, the three main party leaders should have resigned on a matter of principle! Those who illegally claimed should have resigned and finally, Parliament should have been dissolved and a general election called.

The Bible relates an episode where Jesus entered the temple and found corruption, dishonesty and deceit was rife. He did not walk away, but took decisive action and cleansed the temple by driving out all those who had brought the 'house' into disrepute.

What seems to be happening in Parliament now is along the theme of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. True, it's a course of action, but it will make no difference whatsoever. As I am writing this, the t.v. is on and politicians are queueing up to either defend or attack the government. The party line has never been so apparent. Lord Mandelson has just said, we (the politicians) need to clean up the mess. This brings me back to my original point - how can those who have abused the system clean it up? (Poacher turned gamekeeper?).

Thank God there are genuine people in Parliament who are not claiming what they can but are seeking to do the best for the people they represent. We need a full house (of commons) of like minded public servants.

Having said all that, the Bible tells us to pray for our leaders!