Reflection on Homelessness: A Personal Experience and Analysis

This reflection essay examines the complex issue of homelessness in Australia through the lens of a volunteer's personal experience. The essay begins with an introduction to homelessness as a social issue and then describes the author's encounter with a young, single mother experiencing homelessness after a divorce. The author reflects on the feelings evoked by the situation, highlighting the hardships faced by the individual and the broader implications of poverty and mental health. The essay evaluates the role of the volunteer organization in providing support and the importance of teaching transferable skills to help people gain control over their finances and housing situations. The analysis delves into the causes of the woman's homelessness, including divorce, lack of work experience, and mental stress. The conclusion emphasizes the challenges faced by the volunteer and the importance of building understanding and providing appropriate care. The essay references several academic sources to support its arguments and provide context to the discussion on homelessness in Australia.

REFLECTION WRITING ON
HOMELESSNESS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
REFLECTION WRITING ON HOMELESSNESS....................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
DESCRIPTION................................................................................................................................1
FEELINGS.......................................................................................................................................1
EVALUATION................................................................................................................................2
ANALYSIS......................................................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
It has been determined that homelessness is considered as a social issue in Australia.
People who sleep rough on the streets are also included in those experiencing homelessness. It
can be a result of health, social, economic related factors. The report will cover a reflective essay
on homelessness (Bullen, 2015).
Here, people who suffer from financial crisis and experience homelessness are being
chosen as the group on which detailed discussion will be done further. People are being
considered homeless in Australia when they do not have access to food, safety, housing etc.
DESCRIPTION
I met a young single mother few days back with her baby staying in a crisis
accommodation unit from last 2 months. She told me that one day she was asked to leave that
place as they wanted their room. After that she moved to another area away from her community,
where it was impossible for her to access Halal food. Further, some negotiations were done and
she with her baby were moved to our Mission Australia Homeless Organisation last week
(Chamberlain, Johnson & Robinson, 2014). I was selected as a volunteer to take care of her
along with baby. She told me her story and I came to know that after her divorce, she thought of
doing job to earn money for survival but because of her engaged schedule as a housewife she had
no work experience, for which she faced financial problems and had no place to stay. She
further told me that she needed help until she gets a job. I felt depressed about her situation,
which she had been managing from last 3 months. However, when I started working with her,
my thoughts were changing for her. This is because, at the time of narrating me her story, she
used to get very depressed, but, within few minutes, I observed her to be very relaxed while
playing with her child.
FEELINGS
After the entire incident, I realised that how much it is tough for poor people to pay for
basic necessities such as food, childcare, health and education (Couch, 2017). Due to her
hardships, she suffered mental illness, was depressed and stressed out. Moreover, her health
problems were the resultant of being homeless. This was an entirely different experience for me,
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and I was afraid to address her problems. I felt the urge to give my best support to her so that she
can come out of her pitiable circumstances soon.
From her situation, I realised that many persons come to us as homelessness due to their
financial problem due to which they don't able to afford a place to stay. I have been working here
for last 4 years and I have learned a lot from those people. This because these cases of
homelessness are very common. I felt glad that I am taking care of both of them, as she made me
understand that how to survive in these difficult situations. I still wanted to deeply analyse her
situation so that it will make easier for me to assist her. I started my job by monitoring her
activities that helped me in becoming more familiar with her (Johnson & Watson, 2017).
EVALUATION
As a volunteer, my responsibility towards helping people is to overcome their issues
bravely, and not just while they are in crisis but throughout their lives. Our organisation offer
support to such people who are poor and homeless by teaching them transferable skills to earn
livelihood such as our organisation provides 20 days residential housing program so that they can
attain permanent housing, clothing, gain employment, etc. (Sharam & Hulse, 2014). I knew
teaching skills will definitely help her to gain control over her finances & housing situation. I
have provided her education programs to let her know how to manage household budgets.
However, I knew that she is capable enough to handle her situations alone as she was a
good mother. But still I needed to get more comfortable taking care of her with complex needs.
A lot of strengths was required in assisting her as it was tough to make her feel comfortable with
several negative and positive thoughts that were running in my mind. Her child was experiencing
homelessness which led to difficulties in his development, poor education outcomes and also
emotional problems. I was worried for both of them and wanted them to live a normal life as
soon as possible.
ANALYSIS
I felt happy that I was able to properly assist her in her tough situation. But after few days
I felt that I missed her mental stress treatment. Then I started focusing on reducing her mental
illness. As I knew she was struggling daily to find place to sleep, food to eat, or shelter. The
pressure she faced to make her survival secure every day was unimaginable for me. She became
homeless as she was separated from her husband due to divorce and was not much strong to
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handle her mental stress (Centre, 2016). She went to many places to stay but didn't make it, this
made her depressd. I tried to make her comfortable in every situation. At first, when I met her, I
was little negative towards her thoughts but later on when I started experiencing her, I identified
that she was a nice & strong woman with a big heart and selflessly supporting her child. The
best thing I did was to listen her problems, and made her feel that I am with her in any
circumstances. For reducing her depression, I always did my best as a volunteer.
CONCLUSION
Working with such a depressed homeless young mother was a very difficult task for me
and it added a whole new level of complexity to our organisation. As a volunteer it is required to
take certain actions and depend on some suitable changes in patient’s behaviour. This in turn
necessitates the carers to build a strong level of understanding on detecting any type of changed
behaviour in the clients that are generally inherent in nature. Considering the present case that I
have addressed the issue of homelessness of a woman and her child and their consequences as a
single mother. Therefore, I had to analyse every small number of information from her with no
access to any of her family members. This made it more easy for me to assist that lady and
provide the care that she actually needed. Based on our services provided to her, and my support
as a volunteer, I think we did a great job in assisting her.
Although, Australia being very common to such type of issues and cases of
homelessness, handling this case in which a lay is divorcee, single mother, no work experience
and with mental illness was an entirely new experience for me, where I actually came to know a
lot about major reasons behind her homelessness.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Bullen, J. (2015). Governing homelessness: The discursive and institutional construction of
homelessness in Australia. Housing, Theory and Society, 32(2), 218-239.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2015.1024886
Chamberlain, C., Johnson, G. & Robinson, C. eds. (2014). Homelessness in Australia.
Kensington, Australia: UNSW Press.
Couch, J. (2017). ‘Neither here nor there’: Refugee young people and homelessness in Australia.
Children and Youth Services Review, 74(C), 1-7. doi:http://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-
referencing/getting-started-in-apa-referencing
Johnson, G. & Watson, J. (2017). International commentary: The implications of the family
options study for family homelessness in Australia. Cityscape, 19(3), doi:211-218.
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol19num3/article9.html
Sharam, A. & Hulse, K. (2014). Understanding the nexus between poverty and homelessness:
relational poverty analysis of families experiencing homelessness in Australia. Housing,
Theory and Society, 31(3), 294-309. https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2014.882405
Online
Centre, B., (2016). Homelessness Hurts: How Being Homeless can affect mental health.
[Online]. Available on: <https://bissellcentre.org/blog/2016/10/27/homelessness-hurts-
how-being-homeless-can-affect-mental-health/>
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