Pictures and Words

Hi! My name’s Peter, and in a bit over an hour, I’ll be spending a month on the streets of Melbourne.

My bags are packed, I’m ready to go, so I thought I’d list what I’m taking with me.

Essentials:

I’ve spent a lot of time lately on homeless forums, and these are the items that are most commonly recommended that people take with them if they know that they’re going to be spending time on the streets in the immediate future.

• A sleeping bag. One of the most obvious items; I picked up a cheap sleeping bag from the Salvos for $5. A number of people recommended I buy a dodgy second-hand one, so that I wouldn’t stand out/become a target.
• A jacket. Another obvious one – this is a cheap brown jacket that I used to wear when I was part of the stand-up comedy circuit. It’s about 6 or 7 years old, and I think it originally cost less than $20.
• Clothes. As well as the set of clothes that I’m wearing (a shirt that I found somewhere, a pair of my old workman boots, underpants, socks, and a pair of jeans that I bought from Target today for $20. My cousin Gavin has roughed up the jeans so that they’re not obviously brand new) I’m taking along some spare clothes, mainly because I had room in the bag. I’m taking:
  • Another two pairs of socks
  • One set of underpants
  • A pair of black pants that I was going to get rid of
  • Two spare shirts

  That seems like a lot of spare clothes, but they don’t take up much room, and they’re all I’ll have to wear for a month. If my bag gets stolen or lost, I probably won’t be able to afford to replace them. (my priority with any money I receive will be food. If I somehow manage to get a few days worth of food, I might stop by St Vinnies and pick up a cheap set of clothes.)

  The plan at the moment is whenever I/if I ever manage to have a shower, I’ll wash the underpants that I’m wearing at the time, and change into the other pair. If there’s somewhere obvious to wash them, I’ll work out a similar system for pants and shirts. By the end of the month, I expect all these clothes to be pretty smelly, and will probably never wear them again.

• Duct tape. This was recommended by a number of different people, both here and on the homeless forums. I had some left over from when I used to do a lot of filming, but I don’t think it originally cost more than $5.
• A cheap mobile phone + charger. When I originally planned this out, I wasn’t going to take a phone at all. Everyone, absolutely everyone who heard about this informed me was a terrible idea, so I’ve picked up a cheap phone ($29 at Cash Converters) and a SIM card for $30 that came with $30 worth of credit. Unless I get into serious trouble, I won’t be making any phone-calls during the month, but I will be texting my sister twice a day (for safety – if she misses two text messages in a row, she’ll know that something’s happened, and the last place that I was safe. My text messages won’t be interesting or informative in any way) and I’ll be texting my cousin Gavin every Friday to let him know where the Sunday meet-ups will be. I’m hoping that I won’t have to charge it more than once or twice a week.
• Map of Melbourne. I picked up a map of Melbourne (if you’re ever looking, I used to work in a map store; the UBD Suburban maps are the best by far) and have marked the particularly dangerous areas that people have recommended I stay away from. This is what I’ll be using to navigate, until I get the hang of where things are. $8.95
• A box of matches. I have no idea if I’ll have any use for these (especially considering Victoria’s in a total fire ban at the moment) but several people recommended that I take some, and they were only 45 cents.
• A knife and fork. For eatin’ with.
• A back-pack and belt. For storing most of the above in. (I’m using the belt to keep the jacket and sleeping bag together, everything else is going in the back pack.) I’m using my old school back-pack; it’s falling to bits, and will most likely be thrown out when the month is over.

“Luxury” items:

The above items are what I could reasonably expect to have with me if I were genuinely homeless. These items are not; they’re either for my long-term health, or for keeping this blog up to date. I’m also taking a $40 Coles voucher – if I lose any of the following items, I’m going to replace them with that. If I lose anything on the “essentials” list, I won’t be using the Coles voucher.

It took me a long time to decide what to take that I wouldn’t reasonably expect to have if I were genuinely homeless, but at the same time wouldn’t make life any easier for me. The following list is what I settled on:

• Pens, paper and envelopes. These are the items that will most “distort” the experience (I suspect that most homeless people don’t sit and write for an hour or two each day) but they also allow me to update people on what happens to me (almost) as it happens. I’ve had a few people ask why I don’t just go in and use an internet cafe every day; I settled on the “letter-writing” system for two reasons;
  1. If I go onto this website to update, I’ll inevitably end up looking at stats, reading comments, checking emails…I’m attempting to feel as much of a disconnect from my normal social circle as possible. My sister won’t be replying to my texts, and my cousin won’t be replying to any of my letters. I’m always going to be aware that my support network is there, that’s inevitable. But other than out-going messages, I won’t have any interaction with them.
  2. I don’t want to be tethered to libraries or internet cafes. If I want to spend two days walking to and from the airport, I want to be able to without having to first look up libraries or internet cafes. As long as I pass a post-box, I’ll know that my letters will get through, and I have the freedom to go anywhere else that I want to go. (depending, of course, on whether I have enough money/food to get me there and back.)
• Sunscreen, toothbrushes, and floss. These aren’t going to make my life on the streets any easier, these are purely for the sake of my long-term health.

I still had some room in the bag, so on a whim I grabbed two hand-puppets. (I collect hand-puppets.) I’m not sure what category to put those in; they’re definitely not essentials, but if they go, I definitely won’t be replacing them. If I end up doing any busking during the month, it will probably be with my puppets.

Here’s a photo taken this afternoon, when I’d just finished packing everything up and getting changed into my “street clothes”:

I’ve not shaved for the past week or so, in an attempt to look more scruffy, and my hair does the “scruffy” look naturally. (I was moving my hand when that photo was taken. My hand does not normally look like that.)

A common question I’ve been asked: What specifically would make you give up?

I can think of four things off the top of my head that would make me immediately abandon the project. I’ve arranged them from what I think is least likely to happen to what I think is most likely to happen:

• If I genuinely can’t find somewhere to sleep. I can’t honestly imagine this happening – if worst comes to worst, I’ll sleep in a park during the day, and stay out of trouble somewhere quiet at night. Technically, sleeping in public is illegal, so it’s possible that I’ll be hassled enough by the police or there will be too much competition from genuinely homeless people for available sleeping places (remember, my aim is not to make someone else miss out because of my actions.) If this happens, I’ll call it quits.
• If I couldn’t get enough money to survive on. I’ve said many times that I don’t plan on using homeless services, and while I do have a Coles gift card, that’s only for non-essential use. (if I run out of sunscreen, toothbrushes, floss, pens or paper.) If this happens, I think it will even further highlight the problem I’m trying to draw attention to.
• If I get seriously attacked or beaten up. A friend of mine asked “what if you get pushed over, will you give up then?” No. Unless I need professional medical attention, I’m going to keep going, but if I’m attacked in such a way that I can’t deal with it myself (open wounds, broken bones, serious injuries of any kind) I’m going to call an ambulance, go to hospital, and walk away from February having learned that no, I can’t look after myself on the streets.
• If my presence on the streets seriously puts someone more needy at a disadvantage. This is the most common criticism that I’ve received for my plans for February; people predicting that just by being there, I’m taking away someone else’s sleeping spot, someone else’s spare change. I don’t necessarily believe that this is the case (see my last post for details) but I’m prepared for the possibility that I’m completely wrong. If I am, I’ll immediately abandon what I’m doing. I’m not doing this to take from other people.

Those aren’t the only conditions under which I’ll abandon this, but they’re the four that immediately spring to mind. If I get fined into oblivion by the police (it’s possible to be fined for $12 000 for public begging) I’ll probably stop, just out of financial necessity, but my research has suggested that they typically just move you along, or give you an $80 fine for a first offense. Similarly, as I mentioned above, sleeping in public is illegal, so I could be looking at fines for that as well.

The other thing that could conceivably make me stop is mental anguish. I’ve had several people predict that I won’t last more than two or three weeks, simply because the mental strain of not knowing where I’ll sleep or when my next meal will be, of having to constantly look over my shoulder will be too much. I’ve also had people tell me that simply being aware that I can stop any time I like will be enough to prevent it from getting to me at all. I have absolutely no idea where on the scale I’ll fall, but it’s something I’ll be trying to monitor in my blog posts.

My personal prediction is that none of the above will occur, and in 28 days I’ll be a little worse for wear, but essentially unharmed. In a month’s time, we’ll see just how wrong I am.

Gavin and I are heading off now; Gavin will be dropping me off in the city, filming me walking off into the distance, and then preparing to go home. I’m going to try to find somewhere safe to sleep (probably not in the CBD) and then head back into the city in the morning, attempt to get money from the morning commuters* and (if successful) buy something to eat.

*I’ve been warned that commuters are the worst people to get money from, a theory which I want to test for myself.

After that, I’ll wander around for a while, find somewhere to sit, and write up my first letter. Gavin plans to be back home by Wednesday night, at which point the post should be waiting for him, so you can expect the next post to go up then.

This is the last time you’ll be directly hearing from me about this, but if you can spare any money at all, seriously consider donating to StreetSmart Australia. Link is below.

Wish me luck!

Wednesday: Day 1

Hi! My name’s Peter, and in a little over 6 hours, I’ll be living on the streets of Melbourne for a month.

This will be my second-last post. I’ll be updating again in a few hours, with details about what I’m taking, where I’m going first, and the “rules” that I’ve set myself for the month. After that, my cousin Gavin will be updating the site, typing up the letters that I send him. He has to drive back from Melbourne up to Brisbane, which will take a few days, so my first letter will probably arrive the same time as he does. After that, you can expect an update each weekday until the end of the month.

During the month, I won’t be contactable by email or phone. Any email enquiries (including media enquiries) should go to homelesspeter@gmail.com, which my cousin will be monitoring and replying to. If you want to talk to me personally during the month, I’ll be at a set location each Sunday. Details will be posted on the website every Friday night, so check back in on Saturday morning if you want to come and say hi. If you want to email me privately, you can email peter@thechainsawblokes.com, but I won’t read it until early March.

If you have the ability, please consider donating to StreetSmart Australia. I’ll be talking about them later in the post, but you can click through to their website and check out what they do for yourself.

This endeavour has received a mostly positive reaction, but some people have had issues. Some valid concerns have been raised, and I’m going to address the two main ones here. (if I had more time, I’d talk about more of them, but I’ve got to be on the streets in a few hours, and I’ve still got a fair bit to do.)

[There are] plenty of other ways to promote homeless issues without making it about you – which is ultimately what people are going to follow. Plus, you added the donations as an afterthought, it seems…
But no matter what I think, you can bet your bum I’ll be reading your blogs…

This is the second-most common criticism I’ve received – that this project is going to “help me more than the homeless”.

Honestly, I don’t think so. I may receive some exposure, briefly, but that’s not what this is about. Originally I was going to do this just for the experience – it wasn’t until someone suggested using it to raise money/awareness for the homeless situation in Australia that I settled on blogging about it as I went. I’ve quoted this statistic a lot, but that’s because it never fails to amaze me – 29% of homeless Australians who seek services are turned down. Twenty-nine percent. That’s appalling.

If there’s a better way to raise money and awareness, it’s not obvious, or else someone else would have done it. As this commenter said – he may not agree with what I’m doing, but he’ll be reading the blog. There has been a fair amount of media attention, and that’s simply because this is an interesting “stunt”. I haven’t even started yet and I’ve already received nearly $400 in donations. It’s my sincere hope that that number will grow throughout the month, because something like this attracts people’s interest. If people are paying attention, if they’re aware of how bad the situation is, they’re much more likely to donate.

I’ve had some people say that “awareness” is a buzz word that doesn’t mean anything in the long run. I don’t necessarily agree, but I’m specifically asking people to donate to StreetSmart Australia, an organisation that not only directly tackles the issue by offering support to people living on the street, but is also dedicated to facilitating sustainable long-term change. There’s going to be a donation box at the beginning of every post, the first thing you see when you load the page. Even if awareness is useless, I’ve never heard anyone claim the same about money.

As well as that, at the end of the month, I’m planning on volunteering, and blogging about that. Possibly my most optimistic goal is to inspire others to volunteer, but even if only one or two do, that’s one or two more than there would have been otherwise.

Lastly, this project is “about me” only because I’m the one doing it. If I’d thought it would attract more attention, I would have done this anonymously, but by having a face to put to the project, I’ve been able to do radio and newspaper interviews for publicity. I’m not claiming to be the face of homelessness in Australia or an authority on the subject. I’m just a regular guy, and that’s why how the next month affects me will be interesting to watch.

This project is not intended or designed to further my career in any way. My dream, my main goal in life is to be a television writer. Writers aren’t chosen based on stunts or publicity, they’re chosen for quality of writing. I’m nowhere near good enough to write professionally at the moment. If I ever do get good enough, that’s what I’ll be hired for. No one hires a TV writer because he lived on the streets for a month.

This isn’t one of the main questions I’ve received, but it’s a good point that I quickly wanted to address:

I’m curious as to how you intend to determine the monetary value of any services you do end up recieving – you’re not only talking goods here, you’re talking time, and administration costs, and licences, and insurance.

I’ve decided that throughout the month, I won’t be using any homeless services. There’s one exception – Rosie’s Coffee Vans. A lady who works with them has personally told me that I’d be welcome to come along; they’re not exclusively intended for the homeless, anyone who wants a cup of tea or coffee can have one.

If I’m in such dire straits that have to rely on homeless services (food van, shelter) then I’m going to call it quits. I’m trying to highlight what it’s like to live as one of the 29%, and why we really need to reduce that percentage. I don’t want to cause anyone to be turned away, whether it’s while I’m there or hours after I leave.

At the end of the month, I’ll donate $10 for every cup of tea or coffee I’ve received from Rosie’s. I don’t know if that will cover time, admin costs, licences or insurance, but I think that’s a reasonable amount. If you disagree, please leave a comment or email me – I won’t get to read it until March (I’m not going on this website at all during the month) but I might be able to adjust my donation accordingly.

The other main criticism I’ve received:

You say that you won’t be doing anything to harm legitimately homeless people, but I beg to differ. The money you’re begging for, the places you’re finding to sleep in – there are people who will genuinely need that $2 that someone just decided to give to you. There are people who will genuinely need that park bench that you’re now taking up.

I have two answers to this question.

1. If you’re right, and every $2 I take is taken directly out of the hands of another homeless person, every bench I sleep on means that someone else doesn’t get to sleep there:

   It’s my belief that the good I’ll do from this project ($388 raised so far, and hopefully that number will be much higher by the end of the month) will greatly outweigh the temporary harm I’m causing to individual homeless people. That’s where I stand, morally. I’ve discussed this with a lot of people, and I don’t think that what I’m doing is an evil or wicked deed. As well as that, in a month’s time, I’ll be giving the amount of money that I’ve received during the month directly back to people living on the streets, and donating another equivalent amount to StreetSmart Australia.

   I’m aware that this doesn’t factor in the sleeping spots that I’ll be stealing, or the fact that the money I’m taking might not go back to the same person who would have received it otherwise, but there’s nothing I can do about that. Some people have suggested taking money along, or having organised food-drops, but a large part of the experience is going to be how people treat me when I’m dirty and smelly and asking for money. If I organised places to sleep and took money with me, I’d just spend 28 days wandering the streets of Melbourne, essentially living life as normal.

2. It’s my opinion, however, that it’s not a nil-sum game. Every $2 that a passer-by gives me isn’t necessarily $2 that someone else would have received. I’m hoping to sleep in 28 different places during the month; at most, I’d be stealing someone’s preferred sleeping-place for one night, but I don’t think that every potential sleeping-spot is somewhere that someone else would definitely be using.It’s possible that I’m alone in this experience, but while I’ve had plenty of people on the streets asked me for money, I’ve never had two in a row. (and if I did, I wouldn’t leave the second one empty-handed because I’d already given to the first.) I don’t think that people have a set budget that they give to the needy every day, and if one person takes it, the others get nothing. Again, it’s possible that I’m completely wrong about this:

   If the homeless community is so busy in Melbourne that one extra person on the streets for 28 days causes irreparable damage, then it’s a situation that needs attention. As I said above, I think that this is the best way to draw attention to the issue.

So that’s my opinion; I don’t think it’s a one-to-one situation. Every dollar that I receive isn’t a dollar from someone else’s hand, every place I sleep isn’t someone else wandering the streets for the night. If I’m wrong, I suspect that I’ll find out very quickly this coming month, and I’ll be reporting my findings every step of the way. But my intention is not to harm anyone, so if I discover that my actions are, I’ll be pulling out of the project early.

Up next: What I’m taking, where I’m going, what I’ll be doing when I get there.

Hey all,

There will be another post up tomorrow (the 27th) at the latest. As well as preparing for February, I’m in the process of packing all my stuff up and getting ready to drive interstate. I promise there will be a detailed post about the morality of what I’m doing in the next 24 hours – it will be the last “questions and answers” post I’ll have time for before starting, so if you’ve got any questions or comments, get them in as soon as possible.

Donations have started coming in – we’re up to $338, and the month hasn’t even started yet! That’s amazing! Thanks a heap to all who have contributed – if you’ve got some spare change, consider donating, or – if you live in Melbourne – putting it aside and giving it to people who live on the streets of your city during February!

Thanks again, guys! Update coming soon, I promise!

HomelessPeter’s Fundraising Page

This post will be deleted once the next post is up, so any comments left here will go with it – you can leave questions on either of the previous posts, or email them in to homelesspeter@gmail.com!

Hi! My name’s Peter, and in almost exactly a week, I’m going to be living on the streets of Melbourne for a month.

I asked for questions yesterday, and pretty much every question I got fell into one of two basic categories: questions about either my own personal safety and the dangers of what I’m doing, or the ethics of living on the streets for a month, and draining the resources of the genuinely needy. I’m going to answer questions about safety here, and questions about the “morality” of it all in a separate post tomorrow.

Before that: my friend Chrissie linked me to a site which allows for group fundraising. It requires a “target” to operate, and it suggests aiming high, so I’ve set it to $2800 – $100 for each day that I’m on the streets. I’ll be donating at the end of the month; if you’re interested in donating as part of the group, just click through and sign up. I haven’t tested it, so if you have any problems, email homelesspeter@gmail.com

I’ll be posting how much money I’ve received from passers-by each day; if you can afford to, consider using that as a guideline for how much to donate. If you don’t think I’ll make it past a few days or a week, put your money where your mouth is, and “sponsor” me – for each day that I last on the streets, donate a set amount of money.

It’s set up for a charity called StreetSmart Australia. StreetSmart was chosen because:

1. It aims its help at all levels. Donations go towards both “support of emergency aid and critical services, and development of projects and programs that encourage social inclusion, empowerment and sustainable change for people experiencing homelessness.” It supports homeless Australians both directly, and tries to affect the wider social issues involved.
2. 100% of all contributions go towards grants.
3. They aren’t affiliated with a church or religion. (this is a personal reason; I have nothing against church-based charities, but I’d personally rather contribute to one that isn’t religiously affiliated.)
4. They have a Stephen Fry quote endorsing them on their front page. Everyone loves Stephen Fry.
5. They have completely transparent, easy-to-access details about where their money goes.

That’s obviously not the only way you can contribute. Donating directly to people on the streets is the most direct way of helping. Especially if you live in Melbourne; put aside that same amount of money that I mention in my blog post each day, and give it to the next person who asks you for change. Offer to buy them a meal with them, or if you’ve got more time than money, just sit and have a chat.

I’m also going to keep track of homeless services that I use; I don’t intend to use any, and if it comes to the point where I’m relying on them, I’m going to call the project quits, but if I do use some throughout the month, I’ll include their details and you can give directly to the charities that are helping people on the streets.

Lastly, you can volunteer. Google “volunteer homeless” and your home city, and you’ll find details on how to contact local charities and offer your services.

I (or Gavin, when I’m not directly updating the website) will be including the fund-raising widget with every post. I’ll try not to rabbit on about it, but the point of this is to raise money and awareness. Every little bit helps, so if you find the blog even remotely interesting, consider donating.

Questions about safety:

I’ve decided not to include the name of commenters as I usually do, as several of these questions come from external sites and private emails.

Please know that if you are assaulted, you might not be lucky enough to be able to phone a friend and get out. You don’t need a gun or a knife to kill someone, or do serious damage. Sometimes all you need is persistence, and sometimes all you need is luck. As a student health professional, I work with many people who have TBIs*, some from assaults. The most recent man I worked with was beaten up 3 years ago in a store in Richmond, and can no longer read, write, count, speak fluently, see out of one of his eyes, or be in a crowd. He obviously can’t work any longer, and lives on a disability pension. You’re deliberately making yourself vulnerable here, and I really hope the consequence is not that you die, sustain brain damage, or end up requiring long term medical and/or psychological support.

*Traumatic Brain Injuries

[Since you are set on doing this,] please be safe. I don’t want to see you on one of my placements this year.

It would be foolish to deny the risk of this project. A friend told me today – “If three men with knives suddenly approach you, a mobile phone isn’t going to help. You will die.”

It’s true. If I’m suddenly attacked on the streets, there is going to be nothing I can do about it. To survive this project, I’m counting on not being attacked or – if I am attacked – being able to survive it, hopefully without any permanent damage.

This may not seem like the greatest survival plan, but the fact is, it’s the plan that I rely on every time I leave the house. It’s probably the same plan that most other people rely on. Unless you carry weapons or are well trained in self-defense, or are always accompanied by someone who can fight off any threat, that’s all that we can do. Hope that we’re not attacked, or that we survive any attack that occurs.

Now, it’s undeniably true that my risks of being attacked are much greater because a) I’m going to be on the streets at night, every night*, and b) People who live on the streets are, I’ve been told, more likely to be targeted for an attack.

*I do plan on spending a few nights at 24-hour libraries or stores, but the point of this project is to get an idea of what it’s like to live on the streets, so I’m going to spend the majority of my time living on the streets.

(I’ve also been told by some people who disagree with what I’m doing that if they see me during the month, they’re going to personally incapacitate me, but I’m hoping that those are empty threats.)

At the same time, my risk of being attacked are at least slightly reduced because I’m going to have absolutely nothing of value on me, and I’ll try to make that as obvious as I can. I’ve been given some advice on to avoid trouble from people who have had to live on the streets, so I’ll be taking the information they’ve shared, behaving extraordinarily cautiously and being as inconspicuous as possible.

Overall, I think that my chances of being attacked while I’m on the streets during February are roughly the same as they would be any other time. I could be wrong about this, and if that’s the case, I expect that I’ll find out very quickly.

I do have a few safety measures in play – these won’t help me avoid attack particularly, but they’ll mean that I won’t go missing for several days before anyone notices. I’m sending a letter to my cousin daily, to type up for this blog. I’m taking along the cheapest mobile phone I can find (as cheap as possible, with as long a battery life as possible) and I’ll be texting my sister every morning and evening. If I miss more than one message in a row and I don’t contact her any other way, she’ll know that something has happened. The phone can be used to contact help if I need it, and hopefully won’t be valuable enough to make me a target.

These safety measures are largely for my family’s peace of mind; if I’m actually attacked, they won’t help me at all. They’re luxuries that I’m aware genuinely homeless people don’t have. I’ve had to weigh up personal safety versus authenticity of experience, and I’ve decided to err on the side of “staying alive”. They do reduce the disconnect that I’m going to experience, but no matter what I do, I’m going to be aware that I have a support network looking out for me.

Are you planning on staying in the city, or are you going to be in the general Melbourne area?

At this point, I’m undecided. One of my original plans was to see as much of the city as possible – dedicate one day to walking out to the airport, explore certain suburbs on another day. Go wherever I please, as long as I’m back at my dedicated meeting spot every Sunday. That’s why I’m doing the blogs by letter; I didn’t want to be tied to the nearest public library or internet cafe.

I’m putting together a map of safe areas, based on comments I’ve received from people who live in Melbourne. If you’re a Melbournite, or have ever lived there, leave a comment – which areas would you consider completely unsafe? (If you’d only say they’re unsafe at certain times of day, which times? Include as much information as you can.)

Once I have more of an idea, I’ll post a map up, which will be a great aid in helping me decide.

Finance will be another factor; if I need to spend all my time in a busy area just to get enough money/food to scrape by, I won’t have the opportunity to trek out to the airport and back. I’ve survived on less than a dollar a day before, but that was under different circumstances (I could buy rice in bulk and cook it on my rice cooker, as an obvious example.)

I’ve no idea how much money I’ll need to reasonably survive next month; that’s something that I’ll be discovering for myself and sharing on the blog.

If you think you can avoid contact with other homeless folks when you’re living on the streets, you’re delusional at best.

I worded this badly in my last post; I’m not expecting to avoid all contact with other people living on the streets. I won’t be actively looking to talk to anyone genuinely homeless, because (as mentioned last post) I think it’s a dishonest and exploitative way of getting to know them, but conversations and interactions will be inevitable. I’ll remain polite and try not to make waves or stir up trouble, but I won’t be seeking them out or trying to become part of the community.

This month is about experiencing what it feels like to be homeless. It won’t even compare to the experiences of the genuinely homeless, but I’ll be learning what it’s like to ask people for money, and have them treat you like scum, and not knowing where you’re going to be sleeping on any given night. After February’s over, I’ll be doing a lot of volunteer work; that’s when I’ll be meeting genuinely homeless people, when I can interact without having to lie.

I hope that clears it up a bit. There will be more about this in tomorrow’s post.

It doesn’t matter if you do so much research you know every dodgy street and suburb in Melbourne. YOU WILL BE IN AN UNFAMILIAR CITY! YOU WILL BE HOMELESS! By definition, a homeless person is vulnerable. It’s not just about knowing the streets and avoiding bad areas.

I’ve been reading homeless forums and articles on homelessness, and gathering information from everyone I can find who has experience living on the streets, and I’ve reached a conclusion: you’re right. It’s not about knowing the streets. Whether or not I survive is going to depend on what I do, not where I am. This has been confirmed by the majority of people I’ve spoken to

I’m seeking information on the places to absolutely avoid, where anyone who enters is at serious risk of being attacked, regardless of circumstance. I’m going to avoid those places. Everywhere else, it’s going to depend much more on whether I draw attention to myself, how I behave, and my appearance.

Believe it or not, I’m not stupid, and I do want to survive this. I’m going to be cautious and take all the advice on how to survive I can get. I’m going to be at risk simply from being on the streets, but unless I do something stupid, it’s not going to be the most dangerous thing I could do. (it will probably be the most dangerous thing that I will do in my life, but not the most dangerous that I could do.)

Having said that, there would be no point in doing this if I spent every night in a 24-hour McDonalds, or a university library. I will be spending time on the streets, and I will be in potentially dangerous circumstances. Not because I’m seeking danger or because I want to get hurt, but simply because that’s how it’s going to work.

Realistically I’m not sure you have any concept as to how dangerous this could actually be. Melbourne isn’t exactly the safest city to live in anymore.

I’ve lived in some pretty screwed up cities- Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and New York and seriously, these days, I’d feel safer walking around in L.A at night than I would Melbourne.

I can’t find statistics anywhere about the rate of homeless death in Melbourne (or, in fact, anywhere in Australia.) Whether this is because they’re never noticed/reported or because I’m just looking in the wrong places, I’m not sure. If anyone can find anything about the rate of death among homeless Australians, please leave a link in the comments. (at this point, I’m taking the lack of easily accessible stats as a good sign; if people are dying, newspapers generally like to talk about it.)

I’m not claiming that I’ve chosen the safest city in the world, but there are hundreds of people living on the streets of Melbourne at any given time. I’ve been reading interviews with and forum posts by people living on the street in Melbourne, and while no one is claiming that it’s the ideal lifestyle, no one who’s been homeless there has indicated that Melbourne is more dangerous than anywhere else. (if you can find articles or interviews proving me wrong, please, link to them in the commments.)

And, as I’ve mentioned, I’m large and male, and will deliberately not be presenting much of a target. Hundreds of people survive the streets of Melbourne each year; I’m going to be there for a month. I think (/hope) I’ll be okay for 28 days.

I don’t think you should rough it down here because you don’t know what is the safe areas and the no go areas. And what one person says here maybe a safe area another person may not think so.

This is true; I’ve received conflicting reports about almost everywhere in Melbourne except St Kilda and Flinders Street Station at night. I’m going to keep on researching, but at this point, I have no idea what could be considered a “safe area” and what’s not. (this is why the map is so hard to put together)

I’m going to keep on taking feedback, and make my best guesses about places to absolutely avoid. Again, if I’m wrong, I’ll find out pretty quickly.

Make sure you talk to a doctor about your plans and make sure all your tetanus/flu/hepatitis/etc. shots are up to date

This isn’t a question, but it’s a good suggestion, and definitely something that I’ll be doing.

If anyone else has questions, leave them now, because come February 1st, I won’t be able to answer any more. (I’m not going to be using the internet during February.) I’ll be answering questions and posting details until I step onto the streets. (if you’ve posted a question and I haven’t gotten to it, please don’t repost.)

Finally, some housekeeping:

If you’re going to donate/have already donated to a different charity, or you’re contributing by giving money directly to people on the streets, you can email details to homelesspeter@gmail.com, and we’ll keep track of that separately. There will be someone checking that all month, so absolutely any enquiries (media, clarification, complaints, corrections) can be sent there.

If you want to link anyone to this, you can either directly link to the first post or link to the project homepage, which will have a list of all the posts so far. Each post will link to the next. For regular updates, either go to the Pictures and Words home page, or you can follow on the livejournal mirror.

If you want to link people directly to the fundraising page, that can be found here: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/homelesspeter

TinyURLs:
Fundraising page: http://tinyurl.com/hpfundraising
First post: http://tinyurl.com/pchhffaq
Contents page: http://tinyurl.com/homelesspeter

Next: The Ethics.

During the month of February, I’m going to be living on the streets of Melbourne. I’m not taking any money with me (except an emergency $40 Coles Gift Card that a friend bought me) and I’m not lining up any accommodation. The plan is to sleep on park benches, in parks, anywhere that I can find to curl up and nap. I’m going to beg for change or food, or attempt to busk. I’ll be trying some freeganism – eating food from bins, from bakeries at closing time, things like that.

The plan is to see if I can survive for the 28 days. If I can’t, if I’m assaulted or unable to get enough food to live, I’m going to call a friend, and get out of there, with the new knowledge that no, I can’t survive a month on the streets of Melbourne.

I’m taking with me a set of clothes, a spare pair of underwear and socks, a sleeping bag, and a backpack. I’ve been told that there are four seasons in every day in Melbourne, so I’m taking several layers of clothes. In the backpack I’m going to have 20 pre-paid envelopes, writing paper, and pens, and every day, I’m going to write up the day’s experiences and mail them to my cousin, who has promised to type them up and upload them here at PeterCHayward.com

I’m going to be talking about exactly how much money I’ve been given each day, and any homeless services that I’ve used.

I’ll clarify now – I am not planning on using any homeless services. The point of this isn’t to take away from the genuinely needy. I’m not trying to say that my 28 days of living on the street even remotely approaches the experiences of someone who is forced into a similar situation. That’s not what this is about. I can’t even imagine what that sort of life is, and will probably never be able to. I’ve got an end-date when I won’t be doing this any more, and a support network I can count on if things get truly bad, and I’m completely aware of this.

The point is to raise money for/awareness of the homelessness situation in Melbourne. I’m going to be detailing everything I receive during my time on the streets; at the end of the month, I’m planning on donating double that money back (half directly to people on the streets, the other half to various charitable organisations, especially any that I’ve used.) I’m hoping that anyone who follows the project will consider doing the same, or at least making some contribution.

If I do reach a point where I can’t survive on my own any more, and I know of a homeless service, I’m going to go there. But if there’s a line, or people being turned away, I’m obviously not going to use it. My research has shown me that some places have an excess – whether it’s beds or coffee or free soup – and if that’s the case, I’m going to use it. As I said though, I don’t think it’ll come to that.

Here are the most frequently asked questions I’ve received since I started to think about doing this:

Why?

Honestly, the original reason reason was just “because I want to.” I think it’s a really interesting idea, and I’m curious to see what life will be like living on the streets. Originally I wasn’t going to blog about it, just do it, and garner some stories and experiences.

But then some friends suggested using it as an opportunity to raise awareness and money. I did some research, and was amazed by some of the facts that I found – there are over one hundred thousand homeless people in Australia on any given night, and almost a quarter of them are children. Half the people seeking accommodation are turned away, and less than 20% of homeless Australians manage to get a bed in the homeless service system.

Before I started researching, I didn’t know any of that. I’ll state it right now – I’m a white, middle-class male. I’m tall, I have no disabilities, and I’ve never suffered from domestic violence or sexual assault of any kind. I’m almost the definition of privileged.

So before my research, I had a completely different opinion of the homeless. I’d been told that the people who lived on the streets did so voluntarily – that they were the kind of person who would never seek accommodation anyway. I’d heard stories of homeless shelters that went empty, night after night. I’d heard that soup vans and any kind of homeless services going mostly unused, and shutting down because of lack of interest.

I’d heard these stories from multiple sources, intelligent people who I knew and had no reason to distrust. These people weren’t spreading disinformation maliciously, they’d probably heard it from people who they knew and had no reason to mistrust. You may have heard similar stories yourself.

My reason for doing this is no longer just for the experience. I’m doing this because homelessness is a huge, and slightly ridiculous problem in Australia, and I think that this is the best way to raise awareness of the situation.

How will you update us about it?

I’ll be express-mailing letters to my cousin Gavin (unless my envelopes get stolen, in which case I’ll just be using regular mail) each day, so my experiences will be going up on this site daily, with a 2-3 day delay.

In addition to that, every Sunday I’m going to be spending the day somewhere that I’ll announce ahead of time. If anyone wants to come and meet me while I’m in the middle of this, that’s what Sundays will be for. I won’t be accepting food or money from anyone who comes to meet me on a Sunday, but I’m more than happy to chat or answer questions about my experience. I haven’t worked out where this is going to be, but when I do, it’ll be up on the website.

How can I contribute?

To me? I don’t want contributions from people who know what I’m doing. I want to see, first-hand, how people are treated when they have nothing. I’ve been warned that this project will make me lose faith in mankind – I don’t believe that’s true, but we’ll see how it goes.

What you can do is contribute to some of the charities dedicated to helping homeless Australians, either financially or by volunteering. A list of charities that accept donations can be found here, and homeless.org.au has a page with information on volunteering. RememberMe.com.au also has a “Homeless” charity.

I’ll be keeping track of how much money I get from passers-by on the streets – consider giving a similar amount to people living on the streets in your area (especially if you live in Melbourne.) I don’t want this project to result in other people missing out because of my actions.

Some people have suggested a “sponsorship”, similar to the MS Readathon; donating a certain amount of money dependent on how many days I last on the streets. Don’t think I’ll last more than a day, or a week? Why not put your money where your mouth is, and donate more the longer I survive.

If I can find a site that does it (if you know of any, leave them in comments) I’ll have someone keep track of how much money is donated by people reading the site. We’ll have a bar, or a tracker, or something like that.

Most homeless people don’t have the privelege of being able to do research on how to survive a month on the streets. Why not just get off the bus and go?

I’m not trying to claim that my month is going to be in any way authentic. I have an end date, I’m going to be writing up my experiences each night and posting them online. I’m not trying to exactly duplicate the life of a person who has nowhere else to go.

I’m researching because at the end of the month, I still want to be walking. I don’t want or expect an easy, cushy 28 days, but neither do I want to end up dead.

Again, this desire not to be dead – this is something that most people have, but they don’t get to research the life ahead of time.

Why Melbourne?

Two main reasons:

1) I’ve lived in Canberra, Sydney, and Brisbane. I have support networks in all of those places. It’s rare for me to go into the city without seeing someone I know – spending most of every day there, I’m almost guaranteed to see a number of friends. I’m trying to experience what it’s like to not have a safety net, not have people I can go to when it gets too tricky, for lunch or coffee or a place to sleep. I don’t want to run into my cousin each day and catch up, or pop by the store that I used to work. Melbourne is a place that I don’t know. I’m going to experience that complete disconnect from anything familiar.

2) I’m moving to Melbourne. This means that I was already going there, and that this is a way of getting to know the city. Not the best way, true, but by the end of the month, I’ll definitely know the city.

Why do this? Why not just do some volunteer work or similar instead?

After the month is over, I do intend to do some volunteer work. There are two reasons I’ll be doing that as well, and not instead – on a personal level, I want the experience. On a less selfish level, I think that doing it this way is much more interesting, and that the attention this will attract will, ultimately, do more good than I could ever do by myself.

Do you plan on becoming part of the homeless community?

I don’t, no. I think that would be offensive. When I’m volunteering, I will have my fair share of contact, and under much more honest circumstances.

I’ve also been warned that it could be dangerous. Several people have told me that it’s an extremely tight-knit community, and that they can spot and will not be friendly towards an outsider posing as one of them.

I have no doubt that I’ll come into contact with people who are living on the streets, and I don’t plan to be unfriendly or rude in any way. But to interact under the guise of someone in similar conditions seems insulting, so I won’t be seeking out the opportunity or anything like that.

Do you have an “exit plan”?

I do. I haven’t got someone specifically lined up, but I’m hoping to find someone in Melbourne who will give me their number, and (if I get in over my head) let me call them, take a taxi to their house, and let me stay there for a day or two, until I get on my own feet.

On top of that, a friend of mine suggested that I line up a “safe spot” or two – the back yard of a friend, who won’t freak out if they find me asleep there one night. Apparently the number one problem I’m going to have is that I’ll be constantly be looking over my shoulder, living in fear. A back yard that I can crash in will help with this – it might mean that I actually get a decent night’s sleep once or twice during the month.

I’ll point out that these are two luxuries that genuinely homeless people don’t have, and I’m aware of that. I’m lucky that I can even think about it, that I can line stuff like this up ahead of time. I’m hoping that I don’t have to use either, but if a safe spot is required to get me through the month, I’ll use it.

How honest are you going to be in your blog posts?

Completely honest. I won’t detail the uninteresting things that happen, but anything of note, I’ll include.

Are you concerned about your safety?

Yes and no. I’ve received mixed reports, from one guy who claims I’ll be stripped down and gang-raped within the 48 hours, and several people who say that as long as I don’t do anything stupid, I’ll survive the month unscathed. Some people have described the homeless community in Melbourne as a tight-knit group who will recognise me as soon as I hit the streets, and target me as a potential victim straight away, and others who have said that as long as I don’t bother them, they won’t bother me.

I have no idea where the truth lies. If I’m attacked within the first day or two, I’m probably going to call the experiment a wash, and give up then. I suspect that I won’t be targetted straight away, but that’s one of the things I’m most interested in learning about – how accurate people’s predictions are. As I said, I’ve received almost directly conflicting reports.

It’s probably going to help that I’m a fairly large (tall, not wide) male.

I’m going to be updating here every day until February starts, at which point there will be a gap for a few days, then Gavin will take over, updating with the letters that I’ve sent him. If you have any questions that I haven’t answered, leave them in the comments, and I’ll include them in tomorrow’s post.

Tomorrow: Safety Questions

If you have a back yard that you wouldn’t object to me sleeping in, you can email, homelesspeter@gmail.com, and someone will get back to you ASAP.