Reflections from under my precious cardboard roof

As you may be aware last Thursday I joined several hundred business, community, sporting, political and social leaders at White Bay Cruise Terminal in Rozelle for the annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout. I have tried to capture my experience in this post. My primary intent in doing so is to thank several friends, colleagues and well-wishers that supported me in spirit, by donating their hard earned or offering words of encouragement.

Experience

As we arrived for our check-in we were asked to walk past a booth with multiple cards that listed a range of environmental, familial, physiological and emotional factors that resulted in homelessness and were asked to select a few. Then we were split into groups of 10 and "matched" with an individual that had experienced those factors and courageously volunteered to share their story. Our group had the fortune to meet Matt a well spoken, sincere and inspiring young man whose story was eye opening, surprising, shocking and uplifting at the same time. Matt came from a "normal" family of loving parents and a younger brother that idolised him. At age 13 Matt started to develop a rebellious streak and left home to hang out with a few mates across the train station of his suburb. One thing led to another and his parents separated, his father turning to alcohol for solace, Matt started drinking and trying drugs, joined a criminal enterprise, was sleeping rough for over 10 years, spent time behind bars and came close to rock bottom and decided to drag himself out of there with excellent help from Vinnies and Matthew Talbot centre. He has since been rehabilitated, with a good job and engaged to be married this year! And as Matt reminded us, such "fairy tale" endings are extremely rare for majority of people that find themselves in similar situations. He also volunteered to spend the night sleeping out and was apprehensive about reliving his past...and unlike the rest of us that were spending a night out in the cold for a realistic experience - it as all too real for him!

We listened to other stories of Yvonne a delightful grandmother who found herself homeless after her husband passed away and her daughters kicked her out of her own home, Megan a victim of domestic abuse who has worked hard to protect her kids and rebuild their lives, David a tradie whose story includes dealing with a sick child and wife, losing his livelihood and finding his family homeless and on the street suddenly. Each story demonstrated clear, impactful and pragmatic ways in which Vinnies have helped these families.

We then stood in line to collect our dinner of soup and bread in exchange for a meal voucher and after all the presentations it was time to experience a night out in the cold. We collected our standard issue of 2 cardboards per person and started setting up our home for the night. Thankfully my enterprising PwC colleague Regina Fikkers a veteran of previous CEO sleepouts was on hand to show me how it’s done! And just as we were about to retire for the night under our makeshift cardboard homes, the Socceroos vs Denmark game kicked off with several of us congregating around iPad screens to watch the 1-1 draw until midnight!

The next 4 hours of “sleep” was as uncomfortable, disturbed and restless as you can imagine and when the dampness finally hit our “roofs” collapsed making it impossible to continue the sleep charade and in my case resulted in waking up, packing the sleeping bag and going in search of a hot coffee! By 630 am we said our goodbyes, packed our cars and drove back to rejoin our "normal" lives...

Learning

1. Homelessness is not a "category" on its own

2. The root causes of homelessness (e.g. domestic violence, mental health, substance abuse, bullying etc.) need continued research, funding, management and support

3. It can happen to anyone regardless of your current situation

4. There's no instant fix - you can't throw money and expect problems to be fixed overnight

5. The importance of a permanent Digital Identity for those that are displaced or homeless to continue building their lives

6. Garbage bags are effective at insulating sleeping bags from the cold!

7. Losing my precious cardboard roof over my head was enough to make me feel vulnerable!

Actions

• Continue to understand the root causes for homelessness and help drive community and corporate awareness of these issues
• Be aware of and correct conscious or unconscious bias towards the homeless
• Explore opportunities to contribute through technology innovations in this sector working with teams within PwC Australia and with external partners
• Continue to support the wonderful work of organisations such as Vinnies

Keen to hear additional thoughts, perspectives or suggestions...

THANK YOU

#CEOSleepoutAU My Dashboard