It was a peaceful and sunny Sunday afternoon as I sat by the pool at home, engrossed in my favorite undercover detective fiction novel by Lee Child. Just as I was preparing to set the book aside and take a short nap, I received a phone call from a friend in New York. After a brief conversation, she shared the heartbreaking news of her husband Frank’s sudden passing due to a heart attack. The news left me overwhelmed with sadness, leading me to reminisce about a time a few years ago when I sat in a chic coffee bar in downtown Manhattan, engaging in a conversation about poverty and homelessness with my dear late friend Frank and his wife Hissy from Long Island, New York. Despite the unlikely setting, our hearts were heavy with concern for those in need.
I meet Frank and Hissy on the train where I worked, whilst they were both on holidays in Cairns 13 years ago. Frank, a retired professor of Astro-Scientist at a prestigious university but he had a great interest in social injustice. His wife, Hissy came from Netherlands originally, but worked in one of the big financial companies in New York as an executive for many years until her retirement. We have been visiting each other over the years. They both lived a very high pressured lifestyle and very successful but they both lived a very simple lifestyle. They spent 5 hours of their time each week helping out in charity work, especially in homeless shelters.
The specific relevant content for this request, if necessary, delimited with characters: Unlike many other cities in the world, the city of New York is a vibrant city that never sleeps. It has many of the big corporate company headquarters based there in the world. Frank and Hissy, both lived in Long Island but they worked in Manhattan, New York city. They both told me that, everyday they either go by train or drive to work and everyday they witness the increasing number of homeless people in the streets of New York city. As we continued to have our conversation as the waitress brought over our coffees with nicely presented cakes, I looked out the window of the cafe where I was seated, I could witness the reality of what I just heard. Walking through the bustling streets of Manhattan, one can truly feel the city’s energy pulsating through the air. The towering skyscrapers, the endless stream of yellow taxis, and the rush of people going about their day create a unique and unmistakable atmosphere. Despite the vibrant facade, the issue of homelessness is a stark reality that cannot be ignored. It is a sobering juxtaposition to witness the contrast between the glamour of corporate headquarters and the struggles of those without a place to call home. As I sipped my warm coffee and savored the delicate sweetness of the cakes, I couldn’t help but ponder the complexities of urban life in this iconic metropolis. The sight of individuals facing homelessness outside the cafe window served as a poignant reminder of the disparities that exist within this dynamic city.
I found this perplexing and struggled to comprehend it – the issue of homelessness in New York City. This is America, I reminded myself, one of the wealthiest and most influential countries in the world. Is this the reality of “homelessness”? If so, perhaps life is preferable in some of the less affluent countries, such as Haiti, Cuba, Bangladesh, where there is a lack of sophisticated government systems due to corruption and greed. But then, I halted myself. This is not a productive way of thinking. It is not about comparing Haiti, Cuba, Bangladesh, or developing countries to Western or developed nations. It is about the social issues and injustice that we are perpetuating. There are approximately 600,000 homeless Americans and 300,000 homeless Canadians today. We are confronted with a grave problem that continues to escalate, yet it remains largely silent, unlike disasters that dominate television screens and newspaper headlines. With these thoughts in mind, I began to contemplate how this issue of homelessness originated or persists and why it endures. We indeed face a crisis or dilemma, one concerning the lives and livelihoods of people whom we are leaving behind. We ought to glean lessons from this crisis to improve life in the long term.
It was about mid-afternoon when we finished our coffee and delicious cakes. As we departed and I made my way to my hotel. As always, the streets of Manhattan is always very busy and it is the major hub for millions of visitors from all walks of life. I couldn’t stopped thinking about Frank and Hissy’s commitment to charity work and their observation on homelessness in the streets of Manhattan. It came back to me every day as I step out of my home and drive to and from work, I began to realise that, there are homeless people everywhere in the city where I live. They made be invisible in the eyes of people as we are constantly busy with our lives but never take a time to look-around-us. Like America, most of the countries around the world, we are faced with this problem of homelessness, it is a crisis and it is imperative that we need to create an alternative way to solve this problem. My friend Frank and Hissy contribute to solving the problem from an individual perspective but it is not solving the problem or going any further in solving the problem. We need to work, collectively, to make aware to the institutions, government and politicians in regional, state, federal or even global level to tackle this issue of homelessness.
This is a complex issue and at the same time, we live a very complex lifestyle. This means that our lifestyles are rapidly changing and so as increasing level on homelessness due to drugs, alcoholism, domestic violence, wars, unemployment, bad investments, corporate greed, natural disasters and so on. This form of homelessness is not only created in one form but in various ways. We should not be hiding poverty and masking oppression. We need to realise that homelessness can never be someone else’s problem and we need to put our heads together as a community and country whether in Australia or elsewhere. We need to heal the world, to make it a better place.