That’s lovely- thanks for sharing this story 🙂 It’s so easy to make assumptions, I know I still do it, sometimes unintentionally, but I think it’s still important to reach out to others. I carry on with my little care packages: pretty much every time I go out, I’ll have one or two with me to give to someone in need. But, what I think it’s even more important, I talk to a person I’m offering a package to- I really believe that we need to (re)establish human connection.
Sometimes I gave some money to people on the streets in Beijing too, but without talking to them due to language barrier. Thanks for reading and talking time to reply 🙂

Hi Tristan. Thanks for such a great and detailed comment- I really appreciate it! Wow, it’s good to read about your friend’s engagement with homeless people- so glad there are people like her in the world 🙂 Ideally I’d like people to start connecting again- I’m aware that giving a small care package to a homeless person might be a positive thing, but for me it’s more important to actually have a conversation etc. with a person. Material things are needed, but they won’t matter as much without human connection. So my idea to ‘give me five’ isn’t just about materialism and not just limited to homeless people. I’d love to encourage others to ‘give fives’ to anyone and anywhere they feel it’s needed, but ensuring that their gesture isn’t limited to giving things. But it’s a start! Yes, you’re right- safety is important. I can’t see myself walking around the city at night trying to locate homeless people, but what I do is every time I go to the city, I take a package -or few, run my errands, but also keep my eyes open for homeless people. And I approach them, ask them for their names, what they need and having a little chat.
Thanks for taking time to read my blog posts and comment- always appreciated 🙂

A housemate of mine at uni began doing something very similar to you and then she became a homeless outreach worker for Bristol City Council – she was super-dedicated, often going above and beyond. The last time I met her in UK she had been promoted up the chain and was doing very well for herself, and everywhere she went in the city she was greeted by people on the street with a smile – many of whom she knew by name and so forth. A very heartful occupation.

I used to discuss the situation of the people with her and she said that there were routes back into communities provided by local authorities but it was often a case of mental illness preventing people from taking advantage of those resources – difficulty functioning as part of a domestic community or maintaining expected standards of personal and domestic hygeine – that kind of stuff. And of course there’s the drugs and crime.

So I began seeing it as more of a mental health issue, rather than an economic one, but you have reminded me of how opportunities to help someone when we feel it is a good investment can be as simple as offering something quite small and material (which of course has its spiritual side too).

There can be a darker side also, however – my aforementioned friend collected a few ‘persistent admirers’ along the way, and of course that can be a danger. The current news item about Aaron Barley – the homelss huy who murdered his kind helpers is another example, so it is important to recognise that the homeless are not as domestically-inclined as they can appear – literally, of course, and also in a lifelong kind of way.

Stay safe, and thanks as usual for sharing your interesting projects.