You have a good spirit and see through the veil that blinds a lot of society @anouk.nox. I'm sure having gone through it yourself builds a stronger level of empathy and understanding for the suffering of the homeless, I think you hit the nail on the head when you talk about the fact that sometimes the worst thing for homeless people is how much they are ignored. People won't even accnowledge them with a nod, smile or even a 'I don't have any spare money at the moment'. This is what I say to any homeless person when it is the case. I try to give when I can, but I always acknowledge their existence even if it is only a 'sorry I don't have anything for you right now'.

I recently sat down with a homeless guy in my hometown at the end of a night out. I was a little drunk but not so much so that I wasn't making sense..... I think 😉 Anyway, joking aside I had only my cab fair home and it was 2 am in the morning with no other way for me to get home other than a taxi. I said I was sorry I didn't have any money spare but would he mind if I sat and chatted for a bit. His immediate response was to say I had nothing to be sorry about and he asked me my name. I spoke to him for about 30 minutes and found out he'd ended up on the street after going to jail for stabbing someone. He had come out of jail and due to the nature of his crime had struggled to get work. The thing that struck me the most was something that sunk deep down in my soul and that was about the importance of acknowledgment. He said as much while I was chatting with him, he said it is the worst psychological aspect of rough sleeping, feeling invisible. Similarly, he said that people are just people, good bad and somewhere in between, homeless or not. I could tell by speaking to him that he wasn't dangerous, at least at that time, despite his former crime being quite violent. Anyway, I left eventually and he thanked me for taking the time to talk. I promised if I saw him I would help (with money) when I could but would never not say hello and greet him by his name. He was called John. I still see him occasionally and always stop for a 5 minute chat.

This post is great Anouk, I'm the person who set up the project giving community post and I look forward to your entry if you do decide to write something 🙂 Take care