#davekennedy

After researching the different charities and organisations around Huddersfield I chose to contact Dave Kennedy from the Huddersfield Change Project to not only thank him but to also express an interest in his charities work and see how we could work together. For part of this Dave kindly answered a few of our questions which I have copied below -

Questions:

What's a rough estimate of how many of the homeless you help?

Out of all the homeless people you approach how many are willing to except help?

How do the needs of homeless males and females differ?

How do you meet/provide what they ask for? Like if they asked for professional help etc.

In your experience what do homeless people want others to know about their situation?

Generally do the homeless of Huddersfield part of their own community or keep to themselves?

What can the public do to actually connect with those who are homeless? How can we reach out to the public to do this?

Answers:

I would say we deal with up to 20 individuals in the project, each with their own needs and lifestyles. Of those 20, only one refuses help but he's still pleasant with us. The rest of them will have what we offer, which is anything from a Coffee or tea to a soup, chocolate, Sandwiches, fish and chips on a Friday and, most importantly, a smile and a conversation.

The needs of the males and females are no different, except that we only deal with two regular females. The rest are male. And both these females are in a partnership with a male who is in the same boat.

To meet their needs for professional help is a long process which we are taking daily baby steps to achieve. By taking our time to build a relationship, first name terms and trust and respect both ways, we have dealt directly with them wherever they are. We know them now by name, they know us. With some, it is a long process to persuade them to visit the more established support centres but we are working on it slowly. Some are too scared to go, even if we offer to take them.

As far as the public are concerned, it's important that not everyone just approaches these people as if they've known then for a long time. It has taken us six months to get to the level we're at now - but the public can help by supporting projects like ours and donating the goods we ask for at any of our drop-off points, OR by stopping in the streets and saying hi to these people and asking if there is anything they would like, from a safe distance.

The only thing we don't give out is cash because we are trying to help a lot of these people out of addiction, not fund it.

As a recovered alcoholic myself, three and a half years sober now, and a former Street beggar, I know only too well what difficulties these people face. But, having found a way out, I’m living proof that it can happen.