Walk with two feet of service
Andrew DeBerry
ND Going Global
It was four weeks ago that I met Danny J. Being homeless, he spent the time we shared over coffee at McDonald's telling me about St. Mungo's, the place he hoped to stay that night.
Even though he couldn't say where the shelter was, a night's stay at St. Mungo's cost £20, and he was walking the streets asking for change. He story was shady, but I was humbled the next day to find a website on St. Mungo's — London's largest homeless agency. I resolved to visit the place that gives 1,200 people like DJ a place to sleep at night.
On Halloween night, I rode on one of the big red buses to a London neighborhood. I passed trick-or-treaters dressed as dead soccer players, ghouls and she-devils who asked me for candy and found the sign: "St. Mungo's — Central Office."
The neighborhood street was quiet, but the work that takes place within is earthshaking.
St. Mungo's leads London's services for people who are homeless and vulnerable. Their 11 hostels offer food for the body and companionship for the soul. Forty-five supported-housing schemes support tenants who are expected to cook, clean and shop for themselves, while staff members visit regularly to help with practical matters. One hundred fifty-six residents with serious mental and physical health problems stay in locally-funded high-care homes. Resettlement and community support teams help people integrate into their own flats. Skills Training, Employment and Placement Services teams provide the employment skills needed to reenter the labor force.
St. Mungo's comforts the wounds of homelessness. However, more is needed to alter the factors that cause homelessness. The solution for many is what's known as the Big Issue.
To some, the Big Issue is their means to a revitalized lifestyle. To others, the Big Issue is a source of current perspectives on politics, business trends and new films.
The Big Issue is a magazine that the homeless can sell for profit. They sign a professional code of conduct and form a sales pitch to become vendors. I first talked to a vendor when wandering home from a museum after an art history class. A clean-shaven man in a flannel shirt with a badge around his neck was standing on a street corner and holding out an issue. He appreciated the magazine, saying, "It puts a little money in me pocket." He had bought each issue at 40 pence to be sold at £1.20 for a 65 percent commission.
The idea behind the Big Issue is simple but phenomenal. The publication identifies and combats the lack of job qualifications which is a major obstacle to rehabilitation. Instead of judging the homeless as helpless people needing free services, the publication has faith in their potential and empowers them to be contributing members of society.
The magazine has had an inspirational story since its inception. The idea for the publication came from Gordon Roddick of The Body Shop during a visit to the United States when he saw Street News, a newspaper sold by the homeless in New York. With the assistance of The Body Shop International, Roddick teamed up with A. John Bird, whose own life had been resurrected from homelessness in London. Together they launched the first issue in 1991.
Currently, the Big Issue Magazine sells 250,000 copies a week and is read by over one million people. The publication now has branches in Australia, Scotland, South Africa and Los Angeles. The venture has given literally thousands a route out of social exclusion. The project proves that given the opportunity, the disadvantaged do want to work to improve their lives.
The magazine's success has lead to a foundation that provides additional services. Financial training and vocational education promote practical living skills. Workshops rebuild self-confidence with creative work in various areas such as drama and photography. These innovative efforts have prove an important fact: business can be a key power for doing social good.
There are 50 efforts in the United States similar to the Big Issue. One called StreetWise is based on South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Graduates, who often note the lack of passionate faith after Notre Dame, can keep their souls engaged by putting their various skills to the test with SteetWise's larger Volunteer Network.
Feeding the homeless at a shelter like St. Mungo's or teaching them job skills with the Big Issue show two types of service. Direct service comforts the pains from social problems, with activities such as food drives for the hungry. Conversely, social action addresses the core causes of those problems, by educating disadvantaged children, for example. Acting with these two feet of service is the mantra of the CSC service-learning seminars, and both bring out the thrill of being alive.
With our Notre Dame background, we will have the great power to directly comfort people like DJ or to be philanthropic greats like Gordon Roddick.
Recognize your divinity, for you are God's answer to someone's prayer. So, what will you do?
Andrew DeBerry is a senior studying in London with the Hesburgh Program for Public Service. He hopes to be a rich engineer when he grows up living in a project where he can build service organizations. His column appears every other Thursday. He can be reached at adeberry@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, November 21, 2002
