Kate Reilly James

I’m writing this because it’s been on my mind all day, not for a pat on the back.

I bought a homeless guy a hot chocolate today and gave him all the money in my purse, about £4 in total. Then I walked the remaining 500 yards into college with tears in my eyes because I couldn’t fix things for him. 

He was sleeping rough in the door way of Costa Coffee, shivering like a wreck from the cold. I gave him a bit of paper with The White Chapel centre details on it. I really wanted to hug him. I squeezed his hand and encouraged him to go and get warm instead. He thanked me profusely, calling me miss. More respect than I get from the little gobshites on the 10A most evenings. 

I don’t know what the official figures are but it seems like Liverpools homeless situation is worse than ever? 

I’m in and around Hope Street most days, the beautiful historical Georgian quarter bustling with students and business suits who fill the multitude of coffee shops and high-end restaurants throughout the day…. And the homeless who sleep rough in the spacious doorways, elevated from street level, offering a miniscule reprieve from the unrelenting wind.

My friend berated me when I told her what I’d done. She said:”don’t feel bad, most of them probably deserve what they’ve got.”

I was horrified. But they’re humans. And what happened to second chances? What happened to everyone deserving a fair go and a helping hand occasionally? Is that not a thing anymore?

I’m hardly Rockafella, I can’t afford to go around giving my money away and buying everyone a coffee. But if you see someone visibly shaking from a night sleeping on the pavement, their worldly belongings in a small, beat up backpack, you don’t just walk by right? 

You can help, be a human and give them the following details on a bit of paper. 

  
Even if my friend is to be believed, and the guy I tried to help get warmed through this morning was nothing but a chancer…”a charlatan out to make a quick buck for drink and drugs…..”

I’d rather be branded a fool than to be so hardened to think the worst of people existing on the city streets. 

Be like Keely

http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/news/a40750/homeless-period-project-keely-thorne/