Community Volunteering and mental health

[Monarch]

Hi there,

I've been having difficulty replying to posts, might be my crappy tablet?? I'd like to thank all those who have replied to my posts and supported me 🙂

My thoughts tonight - Since an early age I never felt really secure where I lived. I have always felt I had to move on or I wasn't welcome or some crisis would arise where I had to move.  My thoughts are with the homeless tonight and I find this hard to reconcile living in the "lucky country".  I have never really been homeless apart from a week at my mates, a couple of nights in my car, and a week at a backpackers hostel. When I was young I used to occasionally sleep out with a mate who slept rough. He is sadly gone now. I feel selfish for feeling anxious about my living situation when I see families living out of their cars. I don't have any engagement with family, friends or community but I would like to help people doing it tough. My motives are not totally selfless as I feel it may improve my own health to engage with people more. I am not a social worker or health professional but I can cook, do admin and lend an ear.  I'm not looking to be anyone's role model either.  I would just like to help out in some capacity.  I'm wondering what the best way to approach an organisation would be. I don't have references, or qualifications, just my time and patience. I would like to get out of my own head for a couple of hours each week.

Thanks for reading 

[Eagle Ray]

Dear Monarch,

I don’t know if you are regional or in the city, but if you do a search for homelessness and your town/suburb/ council area, you should get some options come up in terms of organisations supporting homelessness. Many areas will have a soup kitchen where you can assist with preparing and serving meals. Often something like a community centre will be the venue for something like that.

Then there are various grassroots organisations starting to form at the moment as the housing crisis is worsening. In a larger town in my region there is one such organisation which is starting off by approaching people who are homeless to get to know them, see what supports they need and report to government on the number of people who are homeless. The hope is that by bringing awareness it will bring more of a government response and resources to help people. I met a woman working with them the other day and have also considered participating in this.

Those are just some suggestions. I’m in a similar position to you in that I would like to help, but I know it also has a good effect on my own mental health when I feel like I can do something for others. Whenever I’m in the city I buy a copy of the Big Issue and stop and have a chat with the person. They are always someone who has done it tough and struggled with mental health, from everyone I’ve spoken with.

Another avenue might be looking at some of the choirs that have formed to support people who are homeless or doing it tough. I know of a couple in the Perth region. I don’t think you have to be homeless to join, but many people are or are people doing it tough in other ways, and it’s a way of getting to know people and support the group at the same time and something to enjoy if you love music. If you live in a city, I imagine there will be a few options like that.

I would think just either phoning or contacting an organisation online, or dropping in in person, would be the best way to find out more about what they do and whether it feels like a good fit for you and how you’d like to help.