How Long Is The Road To Homelessness?

How close in distance are you to a homeless person? Have you noticed the increase in the numbers of them? Last year in London alone there were 3, 673 people sleeping on the streets. The road to becoming homeless is decreasing in size and it could happen to anybody.

Have you ever spoken to a homeless person to understand their situation? Years ago my family were lucky enough to be able to help a homeless man. His name was Andy and he used to work as a builder. He fell down a ladder and broke his leg. He couldn't work anymore and had no income. He couldn't afford to pay for housing and became homeless. This shows you that the road to homelessness can be as short as falling down a ladder. You can create a whole ladder of opportunities but fall down it so quickly.

As Liberals we have a responsibility to help those who are in need. In the Orange Book, David Laws wrote about how breaking the cycle of deprivation is part of 'Social Liberalism'. To me being a Liberal Democrat means helping others to help themselves. My family were able to help Andy by providing him with a new wheelchair because the wheelchair that he was using had a bent wheel and the other wheel was missing. He was using all his strength to drag himself along and wasn't able to get anywhere. The new wheelchair provided him with social mobility. In no time Andy was able to get himself to the Big Issue office where he became a seller. Then he was able to get to hospital where he underwent physiotherapy. He moved on from the area finally because the council was able to house him.

The Government does need to intervene to help those who cannot help themselves but I think that as individual members of the Liberal Democrat party we have the power to help people in need. Let's get out there and demonstrate the party's values and HELP.