NO one could accuse the Shoalhaven of being an uncaring place, certainly not after last week’s homelessness Shark Tank.
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In just three hours, local businesses stumped up $35,000 in donations and services to help the homeless. That’s more than $10,000 an hour, not an insignificant effort from a community that’s hardly rolling in cash.
By all accounts, it was a heart-warming exercise that connected local businesses with homelessness service providers.
Perhaps the most heart-warming outcome with Steve Gauci’s offer of a job to Michael, a homeless man whose plight during one of the recent cold snaps was reported by the Register. Along with a number of other homeless people Michael had been camped out at the showground, with only a thin layer of canvas and a mat protecting him from the frost as the temperature plunged.
That story touched many local people. In the days after it was published kindly souls dropped blankets (many of them brand-new), beanies and jumpers up to the camp site. Michael’s tent quickly filled up and he was able to distribute the goods to those camped with him.
When Michael’s story was published, it renewed calls for the Community Offender Support Program (COSP) at the South Coast Correctional Facility to be opened up to provide emergency shelter during extreme weather. Again, the plea fell on deaf ears.
The success of the Shark Tank, in contrast, should hold the government to shame. If local businesses can create positive change over the course of an afternoon, why can’t government? It’s time the local MPs took note of what can be achieved with a little will and emulated it. We say, find a way to open the COSP and show the rest of us that you can overcome the bureaucratic inertia that has seen it sit idle for half a decade.
That said, we wish Michael a bright future as he begins a new chapter in his life. And we applaud Steve Gauci for giving him a second chance. Well done, both of you.