WORLD HOMELESS DAY 2024: COLLABORATING FOR CHANGE IN JOZI
09 October 2024, Johannesburg – World Homeless Day, which takes place annually on 10 October, raises awareness of what it means to be destitute or homeless, while providing opportunities for communities and businesses to assist and serve. Throughout the month of October, various organisations across the city are working together to address the plight of people in desperate living conditions.
The non-profit organisations MES (Mould Empower Serve) and Jozi My Jozi are uniting to raise awareness and drive systemic solutions for homelessness in Johannesburg. As urban centres continue to grapple with the issue, these two organisations are working to create lasting, impactful change that transforms the lives of vulnerable individuals in the inner city.
Leona Pienaar, CEO of MES, highlights the critical role of systemic change in addressing homelessness.
“We’ve been operating for the past 38 years, with our head office in Hillbrow and additional projects in Gqeberha, Cape Town, and Kempton Park. We are passionate about building thriving urban communities where access to efficient pathways out of homelessness and poverty is a reality. Homelessness is a complex issue with deep-rooted causes, including trauma, mental health, LGBTQ+ rejection, addiction, and reintegration challenges for those coming out of prison. It’s not just about losing a house or contact with your family: it’s a multifaceted crisis.”
This month, MES has launched a campaign, First Walk in My Shoes, to break misconceptions surrounding homelessness, with the primary goal being to challenge and dispel preconceived notions about homelessness and the circumstances leading to it. The campaign theme aims to foster an understanding of deep-seated issues driving homelessness in the city and across South Africa while debunking myths, sharing solutions, and urging the public to walk a mile in the shoes of those living on the streets.
“We are calling on the public to partner with us on this campaign through a National Shoe Drive, which runs from 07 to 20 October. We are sure there are many people who have a pair of shoes or two that they don’t wear – we are asking them to consider donating these gently used or new pairs of shoes by dropping them off at any of our MES branches,” says Pienaar.
“There’s a misconception about who becomes homeless,” Pienaar explains. “One social media user said, ‘Every South African is two steps away from homelessness’. If you lose connection with your support structure and the ability to earn an income, your chances of becoming homeless rise significantly.”
Addressing a key concern, Pienaar adds: “We urge the public not to give cash to individuals on the streets. During our study in Cape Town, we found that homeless people earn about R55 a day. This money often flows into the wrong hands, such as drug lords, rather than contributing to their rehabilitation. Instead, we encourage people to use our ‘MyChange’ universal voucher system, which helps connect the homeless with the services they need to move off the streets.”
Dean Weil, who represents Jozi My Jozi’s Social Engagement pillar, explains what the organisation’s strategy is to support the city’s homeless population, in collaboration with strategic partners and organisations such as MES, together with City of Joburg.
“Jozi My Jozi, alongside our strategic partners, is working to provide infrastructural and technological support to organisations that serve the homeless. We are currently surveying potential sites across the city that could be suitable to create safe spaces and homeless centres, to implement a strategy that makes homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring.”
Weil also highlights the critical role of technology and data-gathering as integral elements to their approach.
“Using technology, we are building a citywide database to collate and process data from multiple institutions. This data will give us crucial insights into the current state of homelessness within the inner-city and enable us to measure the effectiveness of our projects. By understanding the challenges better, and the task at hand, we will be in a position to start making more impactful, meaningful and sustainable changes around the many complex issues related to homelessness.”
World Homeless Day is an annual day observed globally on 10 October that aims to raise awareness about homelessness, to celebrate all the good work being done, and to advocate for better policies and funding to end this crucial social issue.