Being homeless or disadvantage affects so many people. It’s a very real situation and it is very often misunderstood. We often have these stereotype views of certain people, and often the homeless are looked at some kind of people that are just too lazy to get a job or lacking of motivation. However the picture is a bit different. Disadvantage and homelessness often happens because of job loss, mental illness, violence or being troubled teenager running away. Fortunately there are many great ways to help these people, and City to Street is very proud being a part of that.

According to the HS director at Mark & Spencer, hiring and get homeless and disadvantage people out in job are not just ethically right, but it also benefits the businesses. They learn to be more diversified. Mark & Spencer launched its Marks & Start program seven years ago. That is a program that helps homeless and disadvantage people to boost and develop their skills for employment so they can seek jobs and re join the workforce. It helps them building confidence, communication skills and motivation. According to a survey this have been very successful. It was 4500 people that participated in this program and over 50 per cent have joined the labour market now, and half of them are working at Mark & Spencer. Its great that big organisation out in the corporate world take initiatives to something like this.

There is also a great website called http://www.homelessnessinfo.net.au/. This is a web site created for people who want to tackle and help out all the homeless people in Australia. Here they can share ideas, resources and information. Internet its not just a tool for giving out information, it’s a place where people can communicate and participate in important issues. It creates a community of people who wants to share ideas, communicate with each other, work through the issues they are facing and come up with new great ideas.



References

http://www.homelessnessinfo.net.au/

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2011/03/hiring-ex-offenders-and-homeless-morally-right-says-m-and-s.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_2049819_help-homeless.html

Youth Homelessness Matters



The harsh reality is that around 50,000 youth in Australia are considered homeless (Youth Homelessness Matters). Further more around 300,00 teenagers are disengaged from both education and employment leaving little hope of such involvement in future economies (Brotherhood of St Laurence). In an era of academic inflation, there is still a proportion of youth facing the next 50 years without the skills to keep a regular job. It’s pretty scary to think how tough life will be for them.



For generations we will ask, what is the best way of helping these kids? Obviously many arguments can be raised in the prevention debate but it seems some will always lose their way, rebel, or choose a path that does not resemble the norm within society. Past experiments have shown that hospitality and events are a great platform to train skill-deprived youth. Jamie Oliver highlighted this in the UK with his pilot restaurant ‘15’ and most recently to Channel 7 was Conviction Kitchen, a show where 12 ex-criminals battled for the opportunity to become an apprentice for Ian Curley. Is the production of these shows a good way of helping disadvantage kids?



Initiatives to help might be plentiful but its the kids desire to change that must be strongest. The onus is placed on the individual to make the initial decision for a positive change in lifestyle. Once they make that decision, City to Street are ready to create opportunities. Everyone deserves the chance to work.



I look forward to hearing your thoughts. My next blog will take focus around a small not for profit called Youth Projects, operating out of Hosier Lane the business tackles homelessness, alcoholism and drugs within the youth culture.



References http://www.bsl.org.au/ http://www.youthhomelessnessmatters.net/ http://au.tv.yahoo.com/conviction-kitchen/ http://www.fifteen.net/Pages/default.aspx

The development of human welfare by department of human services Melbourne

There are many strategies used in the development in human welfare and how to cater for the needs and wants from individuals.

Their service focuses on housing, disability, workforce, youth, families, community and performance aspects of individuals. They develop programs on aspects that could be improved in basic procedures that are easily understood and simple to follow.