opportunity

i was on my way for a bacon soda this morning and bumped into ben. he's a homeless guy i have met a few weeks ago. as he chatted about the state of homlessness in belfast and the way in which the system, intenionally has him jumping through hoops and sat in catch 22s it seemed a bit ridculous. here is a diagnosed manic depressive forced to wake up soaking wet cause it rained last night. is this the society we are proud to have created?

its all great the assembly is up and running and we're all moving forward, but ben reckons belfast has gone from one of the best cities at providing advice, care and support for those without a home to one of the worst.

why do we accept homelessness as a part of our countries? there are many parts of the world where it simply does not exist, where people are prepared to do what it takes so that any induvidual can be housed.

i do think the governement has a role to play and indeed it has the greatest power when it comes to delivering serivces, but what if we had a more creative attitude to spending our money.

what if a holiday home in spain was a bit passe compared to having you own 4 bed mini hostel for down and outs? forget a jag and bling bling, i fund a support worker who has helped 20 people find housing this year... oh really well my peanut factory in madagasgar recently won a national award for health and safety...

i dont think we should feel guilty for enjoying the wealth that we have been given, instead we should get excited about how much potential there is for good in all our wallets.

i know we're not all at the point where we are buying second holmes or even one, but 50p can stop a child going blind, and you ask the next homesless person you buy a coffee for if that 1.80 wasnt worth it.

the world is only as we make it to be