Sleeping out : A quick update

I've had quite a few people comment and email me about my earlier post of a family friend sleeping out to raise awareness for homelessness, so thought I'd give a bit of a weekly update.

The week hasn't been without its dramas.
It's been an absolutely terrible week weather wise, especially at night. Lots of rain, 80km winds and very cold haven't made the sleep out easy. He's had to tie a plastic cover over the box and hold it down with bricks just to stop everything from blowing away.

A note was placed on his box one day telling him to leave and go somewhere else.
Two days the box was kicked and squashed by someone, and had to be rebuilt.

So today the original box was retired and a new one has replaced it.

Homelessness is NOT by choice.
During the week he also had a conversation with someone who believes that people who are homeless have chosen to be. There are many reasons someone is homeless, not because they're addicted to something, that may be the reason some people are homeless but not everyone. We've met people who are or have been homeless because their partner left them or are in bad relationships, they were made redundant from their job without notice, their rent went up more than they could afford. There are so many reasons someone has become homeless and it's definitely not something most people would choose.