The theme of this year’s Homelessness Week is ‘Homelessness Action Now’ – which highlights how intolerable the present situation, where housing is seen as a privilege and not a right, is. ANDY HAMILTON SJ writes that homelessness is not an accident, but the result of bad economic theory, a culture of greed and self-serving politics.

Last year, the theme of Homelessness Week was ‘It’s Time to End Homelessness’. The 2024 theme is ‘Homelessness Action Now’. This more curt and demanding slogan suggests how urgent is the call for action, and how intolerable the present situation is. Once to have a home was seen as a right. Now it is seen as a privilege. The price of homes has risen enormously. Only the wealthy and those who inherit houses can hope now to own their own home. Renting has also become more expensive as people compete for fewer houses. Homelessness is not an accident. It is the result of bad economic theory, a culture of greed, and of self-serving politics.

Many people whom we serve at Jesuit Social Services have experienced homelessness and its destructive effects on human lives. It cuts human connections. If we have no fixed address it is hard for friends and family to visit us.  It will also be hard for us to access government services. it will be hard to maintain hygiene and clean clothing. For such reasons many people who live precariously see secure housing as their major need. Insecurity contributes to mental illness and to withdrawal from society. People who live with multiple forms of disadvantage are at high risk of becoming homeless and of harm to their mental and physical health.

People who are released from prison are among those at particular risk of being homeless. The shortage and high price of renting accommodation is compounded by the stigma attached to imprisonment. Being without a home makes it much more likely that they will reoffend and find themselves again in prison.

At Jesuit Social Services some of our programs help prisoners find accommodation. Notable among them is the Maribyrnong Community Residential Facility that offers accommodation and other services on release from prison.  We have also been able to extend Perry House that offers accommodation for up to two years to young people with intellectual disability and complex needs who have been involved in the justice system. These programs are models of what is needed. Compared to the size of the need, however, they are tiny. They underline the scandal of homelessness in a wealthy nation and the right of everyone to decent shelter.