Active Inquiry

Homelessness – Why?!!

31st January, 2017 - Posted by Gavin - Comments Off on Homelessness – Why?!!

This week on our blog, Karen gives an update on our Bethany Theatre Company:

For over a year and a half now, we have been working in partnership with the Bethany Christian Trust to run a Forum Theatre group. The group has been exploring addiction and Recovery and an important part of this is the problem of finding and retaining a house whilst in recovery. Homelessness and addiction are strongly linked and as I have been working and seeing the work of other groups such as Positive Prisons? Positive Future?, Shakti and the Alma project as well as many personal experiences with friends and relatives, I am shocked by the depth of the problem of homelessness across many groups and how hard it is to achieve any sense of stability whilst feeling you are continuously in temporary accommodation.

In our latest play that we are developing we explore the problem of housing from the point of view of a person in recovery who has recently spent some time in prison and their struggle with Social Work and Housing. It explores how the only accommodation available to them is a Bed and Breakfast in an area of the city that they no longer want to be in because they have recognised the need to avoid old “friends” who will not help with their recovery. The play asks why this happens and explores the waste of resources and the destruction of a person’s dreams because of  these circumstances.

In connecting with other groups I have realised that housing is a major issue that we must address if we are going to give people the best possible chance of reclaiming their lives.