–STREET CONNECTIONS–
A simple, human to human action, to share time and food with people, in the street.
WHY
It serves mostly for two causes:
– Create awareness about homelessness
– As a sign of humanity and warmth to people sleeping rough
PRACTICAL
Once a week, we first gather with all the volunteers to prepare food with love; something simple is good enough.
After having a short conversation and planning about who goes where, we go in the streets in small groups, two to three persons in each group.
There is already a map that we can use to find the points where people sleeping rough are.
In an extremely kind, casual, and humble way, we approach people sleeping rough. We start a conversation as we would talk to a person in a bar, and then we aim to keep it about any topic, but we would never ever ask about their problems during the first or second time we meet them. Later on, if we feel confident and we sense that our connection is strong enough, we can start talking about their problems with them, but we always try to let them start the topic first, without pushing.
The next week, we do the same but with more knowledge, experience, and love acquired from the previous time.
Once we have enough information about the problems of our friends in the streets, we can brainstorm solutions. Every person needs a different solution.
Each of us can propose to follow up with one person in the street. This is the most effective way to create something beneficial.
The best approach is to find someone who is near your home or in a place where you pass by frequently.
Otherwise, just a one-off meeting is not really useful.
We could, for example, help in making them an account into an accommodation or volunteer platform such as:
CouchSurfing
BeWelcome
TrustRoots
CONNECTION
The first thing to create is a connection, a bridge, and a humble, true friendship. Even just one connection is enough. Once this is built up, each volunteer can understand situations and problems of people sleeping rough. Just then, there are possible actions that could improve their situation.
FRIENDSHIP
It’s not a rescue mission, and it does not aim to fix problems instantly. Instead, it is a long-term process, where each volunteer decides to open their mind and heart, embarking on a journey of mutual understanding and connection. By engaging in this transformative experience, volunteers have the opportunity to make friends with someone who typically encounters indifference and ignorance from society. It is about creating an individual and unique relationship, one that nurtures empathy and compassion while allowing both parties to learn, grow, and flourish together. Through shared experiences, meaningful conversations, and a genuine commitment to be present for one another, these relationships can illuminate paths previously shrouded in darkness, fostering a deeper appreciation for diversity and the human spirit.
WHO HELPS WHOM
You are not simply “helping people in the street”, you are actually helping yourself too. From this activity, you may benefit more than the one you meet. It may seem strange but it is true.
Getting connections and understanding realities that you have never imagined to exist, will give you more than you can imagine.
FOR WHOM?
“I feel really excited and tensioned to connect with people sleeping rough. I sometimes give food I have with me but I don’t actually talk with these people.”—Those are the words of a really kind-hearted activist. So, it seems, it’s hard even for highly aware people to connect with the ones in the street.
This may be exactly the same feeling of many others: you want to help, but you find it awkward or even embarrassing to randomly talk to people in the street.
“Street Connections” is a kind of workshop for those, like you, who have a big heart, but feel a bit uncertain about going and talking to rough sleepers.
Being in a sociable group, sharing knowledge and experience, will transform your tension into pleasure.
Copenhagen – Facebook Group – Street Connections
What is worse? To think without doing or to doing without thinking?
CyclOrbit 
Well done! This article provides a fresh perspective on the topic. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
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