Everything I Knew About Homelessness Was Wrong
I’m not sure if everyone thinks about school camp as much as I do. We used to meet up at Southern Cross early in the morning, lugging our sleeping bags and broad-brimmed hats onto the VLine, before spending a week outdoors trudging through mud, jumping into lakes, talking shit and picking the chocolate chips out of our trail mix. It’s probably one of the few times in my life I’ve spent completely unplugged, present and free, and they’re some of my favourite memories from school.
But one memory in particular has stuck with me more than the others, when one evening they sat us in front of the projector and showed a video called “If the Earth was a Golf Ball“ (please watch, it will change your life). The guy in the video tries to put into perspective the size of the universe. If the Earth was the size of a golf ball, the Sun would be 15 feet in diameter. If the Earth was the size of a golf ball, the largest star we’ve found, Canis Majoris, would be the size of Mount Everest. Mount Everest. Against our tiny little golf ball that we live on.
And to me, there is no way I’ll ever forget that feeling of everything expanding out in front of me. It’s the same feeling you get flying over a city and seeing all the tiny little cars and buildings and people, the feeling of looking out at a mountain range and remembering that everything is bigger than you can possible understand.
I started working at Mobilise as a program intern - processing referrals for our Kickstarter program, which provides rent and bond support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. There’s a lot of admin involved, calling case managers, following up on emails, checking we have the documents we need for each referral. But it was also a life-changing job, because I read every single story of the people we supported out of homelessness. And I’ll never have the words to describe what a privilege it is to receive that many stories of people’s deepest struggles and how they pulled themselves out of it.
I remember one of the first referrals I ever processed. I was new and fresh, and totally focused on making sure I was following all the steps properly. The documents were there, we had the right information, the eligibility criteria was hit. I moved on to check the client’s ID and saw her the year on her date of birth. 2001. The same year I was born. We were the same age, but the chasm between our life paths opened up before me. And I just remember feeling like I’d been kicked in the gut, because homelessness stopped being some obscure, untouchable issue, it was tangible, and it was happening to people exactly like me. And I had that same feeling of the whole issue growing out before my eyes.
And as the days have passed, I’ve learnt about not just people’s struggles, but also the people themselves. I’ve met participants who are incredible bakers, people who play multiple instruments, people who dream of becoming graphic designers, professional footy players, lawyers, and many who just wish to study community services so that they can take everything they’ve been through, and help someone else. Real, everyday people with dreams, passions, courage, love and fear in their hearts. Most of us are probably only a few life events away from being in that position ourselves.
I don’t think we’ll ever fully understand the size of the universe, the same way I don’t think I’ll ever comprehend the complexity of every person experiencing homelessness in Australia. But I think it’s important that we try. If the Earth was a golf ball. If this person could have been me.