Working in the Homelessness sector is like being a Midwife giving Palliative care

Sounds strange doesn't it? What would a Midwife to with the dying? Working in homelessness, this is how it sometimes feels to me. Like, I am a birthing-professional but I was called into the end of life section and my patient's name is "The Homelessness Industry". Tonight, I am sitting here in an undisclosed location, doing a 12 hour Night Shift. I have a number of vulnerable people I am supervising and so far my time is busy with many different things, - talking, assisting, consoling, encouraging, responding to emergencies, doing paperwork... especially paperwork. And lots of it. Always and never ending. Many many times, I need to weigh in if I can afford spending time with a particularly vulnerable person because of the amount of writing that I will need to do afterwards. And I know I am not the only one. Some time last year our services have shifted from being Mental Health orientated to being Discharge orientated. And this brought about a huge wave of change. It was not always a good one. How can you effectively help someone if they have nothing to go? And can you actually affect lasting change in their lives if their Mental Health is connected to their housing situation, but it can not be resolved? What do you do? 

All of this is always on my mind, even now as I look out of the window of my office, the moon is clearly visible and I give thanks to the Goddess for the bounty of Her love and all of the support she continues to give me. I am a Priestess but I live in a World where She is hidden, not known to many people and the ones who find Her (or who She shows herself to) are rare. Most people would instead choose not to see Her even is she would show Herself in an unapologetic way. 

How can all of this be changed? The thing is, it is already changing. Cracks are appearing all over and so many things are changing, morphing & shapeshifting in subtle ways. If you would ask me I would say that the entirety of the Homelessness sector is on fire burning out like a dis-ease that needs to be destroyed. To build anew. Things can no longer continue as they once were. The system itself is unsustainable, with low returns, miniscule retention and a source of much grief and harm. Where one death would be a memorable occurrence now it is all around. Even with all of the extremely dedicated, professional, kind and profoundly thoughtful people I work with, - colleagues, nurses and other professionals, even we can not change what is to come. The system will collapse, if not today, not tomorrow, - soon. What will be in it's place? And how can we not make the same mistakes? 

I do not have the answers, this is much bigger then one separate person and systemic injustices are not righted in one day. But in my heart of hearts I know there is a way. A new mode of being and helping that can bring about lasting change. System change? Sure! But also individual change, the difference of perspective and perception. If you want to be a part of the weaving of a new paradigm. Join me in this journey. The time is now. And there never was a better time. When everything is collapsing around you, take the ashes and use them as fertilizer for new growth.
Join me and other people on fire with the same passion in the Goddess-centred approach to Homelessness coming to London in March 2020. Link below: https://www.meetup.com/Avalonian-Tradition-Goddess-Solstice-Celebrations/events/268314352