I was pleased to see that at the opening of Poverty & Homelessness Action Week, leaders of 12 Christian churches and communities in Scotland have called for intensive investment in affordable housingThey have endorsed a call from Scottish Churches Housing Action for a return to post-war levels of affordable house-building as a way of avoiding the worst effects of the recession.
The call comes in a paper which Scottish Churches Housing Action has sent to First Minister Alex Salmond MSP, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling MP and other political leaders which calls on the administrations at Holyrood and Westminster to get together in facilitating a massive boost to public investment in affordable housing.
The church leaders’ argue that building affordable homes for rent and for sale will have a triple impact: it will help those who’ll be made homeless in the recession; it will keep people in jobs in the property, building and related industries; and it will keep tax revenues from those jobs flowing to the exchequer, while avoiding unemployment pay-outs. It just takes a wee bit of political will. The full text of the statement can be downloaded from www.churches-housing.org
The Poverty & Homelessness Action Week partnership comprises Church Action on Poverty, Housing Justice and Scottish Churches Housing Action. The week runs from Saturday 31 January to Sunday 8 February, and includes Homelessness Sunday (31 Jan) and Poverty Action Sunday (8 Feb). www.actionweek.org.uk
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Contrary to popular belief, most homeless did not become so out of choice and not because they are lazy, stupid, or immoral. Many homeless people are victims of abuse in the form of neglect and abandonment by their parents or other caregivers. Some of them are simply victims of life’s tragedies, such as hurricanes, fires, or other catastrophes from which they simply don’t have the resources to recover. I invite you to my blog devoted to raising awareness on homelessness: http://tcrsnst.blogspot.com/. There you will find an article on homelessness and pictures I have taken of homeless people. I always give them a dollar or two for the privilege of photographing them. I am often surprised by their cheerfulness and sense of pride. Often, they will show themselves to have some kind of talent. There is a fine line between genius and insanity.
thanks for this david
couldn't have put it better myself
ewan
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