Homeless Youth - sk8r_rat: trying to get off the streets

[Dominic]

The following is a journal like thread spanning more than four years.

Forum member sk8r_rat describes her journey out of homelessness and answers questions.

There is a break for a month or so where she isn't able to post, but continues posting later in the thread.

[sk8r_rat]

hope this thread is still running....

im homeless in brisbane (a streetie). sometimes this guy lets me use a computer at his net cafe at night, so thats why im on the net. i had no idea that a site like this existed. this is pretty cool.

im 17, female. im a brisbane city streetie. but ive only been on the streets for a couple of months. any other brissie streeties out there? if there is i probly know u anyway.

[Dominic]

Hey welcome! If you know Peta Girl or Nae or Gypsy or Dave or old Steve or wow, I know tons of Brisbane streeties... tell em Dominic said hi.

[sk8r_rat]

yeah i know those guys!!! except i dont know gypsy, but my friends probly do. i saw mouse in some pictures in gish's journal too, i dont know if u know him. i hang out with old steve alot. he is the nicest guy, we call him dad. steve showed me where to get meals and stuff on the weekends (when some vans dont come). he and this other streetie troy saw me crying in front of a food van one night (about a month into being on the streets), but which had nothing to do with being on the streets, and took me to a shelter that night (i didnt know i could get into a shelter). i was pretty lucky cos they let me stay even though they're not a drop in service, and it was like 12 at night. and i stayed there for a week only, cos after that they do a background check cos they're only a crisis shelter. i didnt want that to happen cos my family doesn't know im on the streets, and they were going to phone my parents, so i told them i had a place to stay and went back on the streets. but it was ok cos they bought me clothes and a doona and a pillow.

rebecca's community sounds really cool, i wish they had food vans like that in brisbane. i hang out for the food vans, i wish they had more people to come and talk to us. i was going to put in the thread about what streeties need to know in the first week about how to nick stuff and scab and hop trains, but i didn't think u would like that.

i wish there were more streeties from australia to talk to online. i'd spend an hour scabbing EVERY day to get on the net to talk. most of them are too busy chroming or sleeping. u know ive kept off all drugs so far! i havent even smoked. but its pretty hard, and i think ill have to give in soon. im going to book a library computer for like the next week so i can get on the net every day. sorry about going on and on but u dont get to talk to many people about being on the streets, like the people at the food vans are good, but they dont stay very long and not many people (volunteers) come.

ill tell people u said hi! thanks for making this site its really cool.

[Dominic]

Yep, I know mouse.

Feel free to give any good advice, the forum is for streeties so go for it.

BTW, have you been to Jpet (Salvos) in Baxter St, and BYS in Church St - fortitude valley? Or 139 Club in Brunswick St, or Red Cross Cafe in Adelaide st in the city. These places are encyclopedic on what help you can get where and so on.

Congrats on not using. I'm pretty worried about Peta at the moment, she sounds pretty sick from sniffing. Have you heard how she is doing?

[sk8r_rat]

i don’t hang around with peta girl, but ill ask my friends (who've been on the streets way longer than I have) and find out what shes been up to. it could be like a few days though. i try to stay away from the chromers, but that’s pretty hard. some people are getting back into it too, like my friend adele, which is kind of sad, but that's the streets.

i go to 139 club sometimes for a meal on the weekend, but i don't like how they give you tickets. why can’t people just have as much as they want? steve always goes with me to 139 club on the weekends. and i went to the red cross cafe quite a few times. then this chic came in when i was there and passed out cos she'd cut herself and these other people smashed stuff and stormed out, and it kind of freaked me out and i haven't been back.

i really like going to BYS when they're open in the afternoons a couple of times a week. i love to play guitar and this guy there always lets me play his electric guitars, and they gave me a towel once, and their meals are good. but most of the time my friends don’t want to go, cos they don’t want to walk from the city to the valley (it’s not that far!). i love going to BYS, but i'm kind of shy so i don’t really like asking people for help about stuff. i always wondered what jpet was!! everybody talks about jpet, but i didn't want to ask what it was cos that might sound stupid. i've never been there, what do they have?

we went to the wesley mission the other day because we were so hungry, and they wouldn't even give us a meal. it was just me and two other friends and we were polite and didn’t have drugs or anything, but they said they couldn't help us. so we had to spend like an hour begging (which of course is illegal) and rack stuff (again illegal). and they could have just given us a meal.

i love going to places like BYS, and the food vans and stuff, cos its really good to go and be with people who are sympathetic and don't just treat you like scum, like most people do. and the streets get you down so much and it’s good to just take time out. i have a hard time convincing my friends to go, but i usually go anyway cos its tons better than just sitting around. i have a skateboard and a hackey sack though, so i usually do that when everybody else is sitting around. i used to have a cd player too, but this guy stole it. i can play guitar ok, and i wish i had one so much cos then i would happily busk all day.

i want to go back to a shelter, because it’s getting into winter, and i really want to get off the streets. but i’m worried because i don't want them to do a background check, because my mum used to work in the department of families ages ago, and she might find out, cos i’m only 17 and maybe they’ll report me. also a background check would mean contacting someone from my family right? and i really don't want them to know i’m on the streets. i could give them the number of somebody from my church. what do you reckon?

i reckon the best advice for somebody going on the streets is to hook up with other streeties. as soon as you do that, you can probably squat with them (which is a pretty important thing, to have a squat) and go with them to food vans and stuff. i know that it will be hard to meet streeties, cos you might not really look like a streetie to begin with and people might not trust you, but the key to hanging out with streeties is CIGARETTES. have some cigarettes, and people will hang around you and talk to you!

i think it would be cool if people got on here and shared their stories of why they’re on the streets and stuff, and what it’s like in different cities. i’ll find out about peta girl, it might take a few days though cos i don't actually hang around with her, and some people have been going into the suburbs and sniffing at squats there, so maybe she has too.

i’m so glad i found this forum, thanks dominic for brightening my week!!!!

[Dominic]

Definately check out jpet. It's actually the salvos drop-in and jpet is only one program they have there but because they have a big jpet sign on their building everyone calls it jpet. They have drop in and acooking thing, school via distance ed, gym, computers (not sure bout internet) also case managers and stuff. The person running it is Chris, she is pretty cool so say hi to her if she is there, she's real nice. Salvos might also have a guitar.

There use to be so many more squats but a lot of them got closed down or burnt down or demolished. Some of the squat photos on this site are brissy ones. I've been taking photos for the past ten years though so probably not any you recognise.

What was the problem with wesley? that sux.

If you want to hook up some shelter time or other accommodation salvos drop in are really good at helping with that too - as are bys.

[sk8r_rat]

Jpet sounds really good I'll definitely check it out (if my friends want to, im too shy to go to those places by myself!!). and im sorry you probly know i got the wrong steve when i was talking about 'dad' before. i do know old steve, but i hang around with a steve we call dad. its so confusing with names, in brisbane i know like two nathans, three anthonys, three steves!! it would be so much easier if EVERYBODY had nicknames. i dont have a nickname, but sorry i dont like giving out my real name, i didnt even want to give it to the shelter.

there did used to be tons more squats. people tell me about squats they used to sleep in and some of them sound tons better than the ones there are now. we've got a pretty good squat at the moment. it's near roma street, not too far away from king george square, and its got a tap and a roof over some bits and a separate bit to piss in. its so funny, cops walk past it every day, like a couple of metres away, but they haven't talked to us about it yet. i would have thought we would be moved on by now, cos we've been there for about a month, and we sit around when the workers that work there walk past, and i think we freak them out a bit!

its kind of crap now though cos people keep stealing our stuff from there, and we thought it was a squat no other people knew about (i know that sounds so stupid!). some people took all our blankets and clothes and so now we have to carry all our stuff around with us all day. now we’ve only got one blanket each and ive only got the clothes im wearing, and my jeans have a huge rip up the leg. i don't get centrelink (i should, but i don't) so if i want some new clothes i have to rack them, and i hate doing that cos if the cops catch me they’ll tell my family (i think) and then they’ll know im a streetie.

often we cant be bothered going back to roma st, especially if we’ve been at replay (games place) half the night, and we sleep in king george square (as its not so cold yet), or the church (if there’s no chromers) quite a bit too. the other night we were sleeping at the church, just me, adele, dad, and monkey and his girlfriend, and the cops came around on HORSES to move us on!!!! it was so funny cos we are the quietest bunch of streeties ever. the cops are harassing us more and more around king george square now.

we were in king george square the other night at the soup van, and these people from channel nine came up to me and asked if we would do an interview about what its really like on the streets and why people leave home and do we know our rights. so me and a few of my friends did interviews in kgs, and then they asked if we would show them some squats. so my friends adele and skittles and me showed them a few old squats that nobody uses any more (of course). and then when we watched the show on the tvs at roma street station it was about how kids just go on the streets to get the living away from home allowance, and how charities like bys are supporting them. it was crap cos it was paying out on bys and stuff, and they didn’t tell us it was going to be about that. they seemed really genuine and nice and everything when we were filming. i felt really bad because i was speaking on it, and i wouldn’t have done it if they had told us it was going to be about that. then we saw a channel nine van in the street the other night and we were going to smash the windows in but we didn’t.

at the wesley when we asked if they had something we could eat they asked us if we had centrelink, and my friends jockey and smurf said that they did but there was something wrong with the payment (not true of course, but they had no money all the same). and i said that i don't get centrelink. and then the guy went to wring centrelink and we just walked out cos they weren’t going to give us anything.

i'd really like to get into a shelter for winter at least, but i don't really know about how to do that. i don't want to go to a shelter where they’ll ring my family, but i don't know, maybe they all do that? maybe once i was in a shelter i could get a job, so when i was on the street again i could buy food and clothes, or a guitar! or go to tafe!!! that would be cool.

i haven’t found out about peta girl yet sorry, because my friends haven’t seen her for a few days. it might be a few more days, because i don't know when i can get on the net again (because the librarys not open on the weekend, and this guy who lets me on the net when he cleans the net café doesn’t work on weekends). but ill be on the net if i do some hard scabbing!!

sorry again to go on so much, but i love to talk to people about being a streetie and stuff, and whats happen, and nobody really wants to hear about it usually. thanks again for everything, ill make sure i get back to you asap about peta.

sk8r rat.

[beatonthestreet]

Hi sk8r_rat,
That really sucks about the Channel 9 interview. Why does the mainstream media always attempt to portray the homeless in such a negative way. Ive had many experiences with bad press.
One time in Dublin we developed a street soocer football league and got a team together to play in the Homeless world cup held in Austria. As we had to do a lot of fundraising and it was important to show a positive story so we had a lot of media attention. Thankfully most of it was positive... Except for Murdochs 'News of the World' which would be a widely read Sunday paper, the journalist concerned appeared to really care.. on opening the paper the lads were confronted with a double page story headlined..HOMELESS AND HOPELESS, which talked about some of the lads drugs 'problems' and some of their criminal records and suggested that the football was just a free holiday!!! I can tell you the next training session wasnt much fun.
The media seems to think that homeless people are 'objects' not people with families and feelings that they can say what they want about. They were more than angry but felt they couldnt do anything about it. Ever since I refuse to have any dealings with Murdochs papers..I presume Kerry Packer isnt any better?
The media is very important in getting our stories out and I learned the hard way. Thankfully I now know who are the genuine journalists etc. and only deal with them when it comes to meeting homeless people. There are some good people out there but they are under strict orders as to what they can say!!
**Rant over!!**

Excuse my ignorance but what are 'chromers'? ive never heard that word before. Im guessing its something to do with Solvents or has Australia got its own special drug that hasn't reached Ireland!!

Anyhows I hope things go well for you..
All the best,
Jon

[Dominic]

streetseen - chromers: snif paint. I find with the media it all comes down to the journalist you deal with. It helps to use the same journo again and again, but hard to develop a relationship with one at every media outlet you use.

sk8r rat - I talked to Peta the other day so don't worry, thanks for trying though.

That sucks about channel 9, pretty weak story line. Micheal's had this sort of crap before though so I'm shure he has weathered the storm fine. BYS is such a quality service it won't harm them. And I'm sure they realise you didn't know the story was a negative one about them.

[beatonthestreet]

Cheers Dominic, I thought it would be some sort of Solvent abuse...I wonder is that where the phrase 'Painting the Town Red' came from...
Seriously though, we have similar issues here in Belfast with Glue and Spray paints, strangely enough outside of the North of Ireland the problem isnt so widespread thankfully.. a dangerous buzz in my experience, we have lost some good kids due to its use..

[Dominic]

It's really lowered my opinion of humanity, there was a push to get the spray cans to be 'behind the counter' items or locked so people couldn't steal them from shops. If only to prevent theft, you would think the shop owners would be all for it. Some helped out but there is still the rogue trader or two that happily sells the stuff to kids knowing full well what they are going to do with it. I haven't been in Brisbane for a few years but if I still was, tracking these traders down and exposing them for what they are would be top of my to do list. I do admire the manufacturers though who have added irritants to their paint to make it unable to be used for sniffing.

[sk8r_rat]

Even in the few months that ive been on the streets ive seen chroming get worse in brisbane. some of the people i hang with have turned back to sniffing after even a year of being off it, and its really sad to see.

ive had a crap couple of days, as the cops are "cleaning up" the city for anzac day, and it seems like at that time when the city's on display us streeties are just supposed to disappear. so weve been chased out of some squats and tried to sleep in king george square, but they moved us on from there too. where are we supposed to sleep?? and a a couple of food vans havent been coming, i guess because its a long weekend, so im pretty hungry, havent eaten in about two days. but i dont know anywhere where u can u get food on the weekends. a couple of my friends got arrested for being a public nuisance for begging for money of people (luckily i wasnt begging when the cops came round the corner, although i had been a few minutes before), and the cops are all out everywhere so i dont want to do that. and my friend steve has to go to court in the next couple of days on fraud and break and enters, and he'll probly get a least six months in jail.

my friends m___ and j___ have skipped the state so they dont have to appear in court, adele has disappeared into the suburbs to chrome, skittles spends lots of time in ipswich (dont know why), anthony (my best friend on the streets! and at the shelter, he was there at the same i was) went to see his caseworker at the department of families when he was sick last week and hasnt been seen since, and smurf and his girlfriend heather spend all their time at a boarding house they're staying at. and i was nearly raped the other day by an older guy i though was just a nice guy, when i didnt have anywhere to squat so i went back to his. my own stupid fault. i carry a knife in my bag now anyway, just in case. so im feeling pretty lonely at the moment, probably the most down ive felt since i went on the streets. but its ok, because today the guy who lets me go on the internet while hes at the net cafe after hours saw me in the square and asked if i wanted to come down, cos he was going there, and its closed on sunday, so that was pretty lucky.

sorry for complaining, but this is like my outlet, you know, to dump all my crap on. so sorry for whingeing!

sorry dominic that i didnt find out about peta very fast, its just that i dont know everybody on the streets yet, because im a pretty new streetie, and lots of my friends who know everybody aren't around. you know tons about the street hey! when u said about michael, i was like wow u know who a guy called skittles in brissie is. pretty cool.

hope you guys have a good long weekend (or whatever day it is in ireland streetseen).

sk8r rat.

[Dominic]

Sounds like one of the more crap weeks on the street a person can have. I'm glad you like venting here, you are absolutely welcome to do so.

Southbank is probably better for scabbing up money as there are fewer cops and plenty of ppl, especially on the weekend. It's also a good side of town to look for another squat as it's off the radar compared to the other side of the river. Hope this helps.

Food on a weekend... 139 club I think has a sunday lunch, not sure about St. Vincent de Paul mens hostel at sth. brisbane but they are open weekdays for lunch and anyone can eat there. It's been a while but from memory it costs $1 for lunch there.

Also every morning there is the eccumenical food van, which stops in about 5 different places, closest to the city would be in the botanic gardens just inside the gate. The way to get there is walk to the bottom of queen st mall, turn right and follow that street all the way to the gardens - go inside that gate and that's where they stop. But ask someone what time they stop (it's early sometime between 6.30am and 7.30am from memory). Actually, no. Ask where they stop now too because I think they moved that stop to the footbridge that goes over to southbank. Hell, I'm out of touch with what's where these days in Brisbane.

PS - Next time I'm heading up to Brisbane I'll be dropping into BYS and probably Salvos so I'll let you know when.. so we cross paths.

[beatonthestreet]

Hi Sk8er!
Sounds like you have had a rough time of it recently, and as Dominic said ' keep up the venting' a lot of people visit this forum and it is very important that people understand what is happening right under their noses..
I for one certainly welcome your reportbacks form Brisbane, although you are thousands of miles away I feel that you are next door sometimes!! keep it up!!
We dont really celebrate Anzac day here, though I know some of the 'Aussie' bars are throwing a bash....
Isnt it typical of the Authorities to hide their social problems.. This happens throughout the world...
I look forward to hearing from you soon..Keep Strong!!
Jon

[Dominic]

If we could get the police to admit it... if that is actually what is happening (not so sure), it would lead media stories around the country as it is opposite to the Anzac spirit. I'd say it's just the usual police process, unrelated to Anzac day.

[sk8r_rat]

Thanks tons for the support!!!! And thanks dominic for those ideas. You’re probably right about the cops (you seem like a person who’s usually right!), they hadn’t closed down squats for a while, so it would have just been coincidence it came with Anzac day. But the cops have been at us more than usual.

I think I will try raking up over the river, cos the cops aren’t there, but not so many people rake up there so I don’t know if I’ll get much. I’m going to squat there too. When I first came on the streets I didn’t hang out with streeties for the first two weeks, and I slept in a carpark at south Brisbane. It’s a bit of a dodgy spot but nobody else sleeps there and it’s dry so I think I’ll go back there. I wish there was just one other girl on the streets my age I could hang with. But there isn’t anymore, (the only girls my age are aboriginal chromers) and sleeping in the same squat as guys makes me nervous now. There’s nowhere to stash my stuff there but I found a place at city hall, so that’s ok. I’m always nervous somebody’ll take it though. allen told me that the food van comes at the start of the footbridge at 7, so I’ll go there tomorrow morning.

I was hanging out with nae nae and jockey yesterday on Sunday arvo, and we were all so hungry, and they had been trying to rake up but without much success (cos they were a bit drunk by then), and we went to a 7-11 and asked them if they could give us some food on credit. And they did! nae nae had to convince them, but they gave us ten bucks worth on credit. I was so surprised. But I have absolutely no money (no job or centrelink) so jockey'll pay for me.

Then I went to church, and I was talking about how I would like a guitar, and somebody said that if I came and visited them yesterday I could have an old one they have. So I went there and they gave me their guitar!!!! But I don’t know how long it’ll last on the streets. I don’t want to leave it alone in case something happens. Some people said some places (like BYS etc) have places where you can stash stuff, so maybe I’ll check that out. But wow I’m so lucky, I have a guitar!! I’ve written one song (about a year ago) about my journey onto the streets, and I’m halfway through another one about being a kid on the streets. It’s something to do. And when I was sitting with people when they were selling the big issue they wanted me to play because they reckon they'll sell more.

Then I was sitting up at King George square on Sunday night, waiting to see if a van was going to come, and some guys (skittles, two anthonys, and allen) came and sat with me, and then jockey and nae nae came over to us completely off their faces, and a couple of chromers came over. Straight away four cops came up from the mall and caught the chromers, and out of all of us sitting there I would have to be the one who looked least like a streetie, but the copper pointed straight at me and made me stand up and patted me down and made me open my bag. I haven’t even smoked a cigarette in my life let alone chrome!!! And then she found my knife, and I was a bit worried cos I’ve gotten caught shoplifting and begging before, and I thought maybe she would call my parents, but she just confiscated it. But out of all the other people there, two drunks, three guys my age, and a 26 yr old hippie, I was the one who got searched. It was crap too, cos the hippie (a guy I thought was called troy, but who is allen, and who is the guy who took me to the shelter) had like two knives and bongs in his bag, and I only had a knife and I got searched. And there was a guy just sleeping the whole time on the bench next to us and they searched him too. And all of us who were just sitting there were doing nothing wrong, and that was a good knife too.

Then allen asked me to come to the gardens to feed the possums, and cos the other guys were with us I did. But then he told them to go away, and then when we got to the gardens he put his arms around me and told me he just wants to screw me. And I’m not pretty or anything. It sucks cos you can’t trust anybody out here, that’s all three of the older guys that I know who I thought were just being friendly, but who I now know just want a screw. I said I had to catch a train and left. I should have just not gone with him in the first place, but I thought he was just nice, because in KG he asked if I was hungry and gave me some chocolate, and defended me in front of the cops, and took me to the shelter before, and I didn’t want to offend him by saying I couldn't go with him.

BTW allen was talking about how he had a girlfriend called phoebe five years ago, and it turns out he is the guy who wrote “allen and phoebe once slept here” on their squat wall five years ago. I told him how his picture’s online.

King Jeremy found this bike a little while ago, which had been stolen of course, but he didn’t steal it off anybody, he just found it. And it was a good bike, but the cops were asking questions about it and he got another one, so we took it down to the mall and just left it near maccas. It still hasn’t gone after like three days!!! I think that’s amazing, I thought it would be gone in a few hours with the amount that things get stolen around here. Maybe it’s because there’s so many cameras in the mall.

My friend steve who was going to jail has disappeared. He’s a bit of a creep, he’s like 35 and keeps going on at me to sleep with him, but I’m worried cos he has to go to court on Wednesday. He was talking about going interstate, but I hope he hasn’t cos I didn’t even get to say goodbye. And my best friend on the streets was Anthony (the maori one, there’s four of them) and I went with him to the department of families last week because he was sick, and he hasn’t come back from there. I think that maybe I’ll go down and just ask to speak with his caseworker Mark, and find out if he’s ok, because I hope he hasn’t gone into foster care or anything cos that screws people up.

I’m going to check out Jpet today or tomorrow, cos I really want to know what it’s like, but I have to convince somebody to come with me first. Thanks for reading my posts, I was a bit worried that I might be pissing some people off by just going on about my life, when I'm no different to all the other streeties. Thanks tons.

Sk8r rat.

[Dominic]

You need to ask Nae Nae about Allan and Phoebe.

Is Nae's bf Kevin still around?

[sk8r_rat]

Ok cool I'll do that. I've found a few other friends to hang with now anyway. But I think we might have got our wires crossed on nae nae, thats what we call this guy called nathan (cos there's two nathans).

Last night I met gypsy! Wow she is so nice, she asked where I was sleeping (I said on the streets), and said she'd take me to Jpet after we finished at red cross. You probly know they have this thing called "A place of saftey" three nights a week, where you can stay there from 9pm to 8am. So gypsy took me there and I slept there last night, had a feed (even pancakes!) and watched foxtel and had a shower. Luxury.

It was great, and then in the morning one of the workers Tracy there asked me where I was staying and stuff, and she hooked me up with some accomodation at Pindari (not sure of the spelling) women's hostel. It's good cos I can stay there for up to three months and they don't call your family or anything, which I was so worried about. It costs like $98 a week, but they're going to pay the first two weeks while I find a job. I don't think I can get centrelink because I don't want them to call my mum, but I went to see the legal people at red cross and they're going to find out about it for me.

And it turns out the accomodation person at YOS is this guy I know from church. It was kind of funny, cos he always insists on dropping me home from church and stuff and I'm always like "no no it's ok, just drop me at King George square, I'm staying with friends who live near there", and he's always like "where do they live" and I'm always like "I'm not quite sure of the actual street name...". So I was a bit embarrassed when I saw him at YOS, but he told me he can't tell anybody from church or anything that I'm homeless. I actually told some people from church a while ago, but I don't think they believed me.

And the YOS worker Tracy phoned reconnect, because I think she thinks I should do it, and I'm going to meet with a chic from there tomorrow. I not sure about it though, because if I told my mum I was on the streets she would be so angry (my mum denies what is going on at home) and my whole family would hate me. I can't go back home cos my sister beats me up every day. But she's going overseas soon, so I'm hoping to move back in then, and if I told my mum i had been living on the streets I don't know if she would let me come back. So I just want to get a job, (I worked at maccas not so long ago), keep saying that I live at friends' places, and then move back home in a couple of months.

Maybe if I had enough money, I could even go to tafe (YFSS said they would pay for it for me). I definitely definitely want to be a youthworker. Tracy's going to help me fix up my resume and stuff tomorrow. This morning they let me stay even after the drop in time had finished and play the electric guitars and keys (I can play piano too). I have to go back there this arvo and they're going to take me to Pindari. Gypsy doesn't know what she's started!

I'll make sure I do what you said Dominic, thanks for the heads up.

Sk8r rat.

[Lachlan]

sk8rrat, you say you are 17 and are on the streets?

I am a student at QUT and im 18 years old. Im currently doing a project on homeless people and their living conditions. By the way your write and talk, you appear to be as normal as any other 17 year old out there except you are on the streets. I am a compassionate person and like to think that i can make a difference. I cant help but feel sorry for your current position and I wonder why you do not ask for help from centrelink? You say you do not want your parents to know your are a streetie yet you pose on channel 9 news? Does this mean you are from a different state ? I have read all of your posts, possibly twice, and I wonder why you have chosen this life you now lead?

Many of my friends are heavily into drugs , none chrome- some do but i dont really hang out with them, and they are all surviving off either a)dealing drugs b) centrelink c)a job or a mixture of all of those things.

Do you not have any friends to lean on? Have you had a hard past life? Surely after only being on this earth for 17 years you would realise that there is so much more out there for you to take a hold of.

I feel like an idiot writing these things down because i know that my understanding of the culture you are apart of is close to nothing. Nonetheless, I am interested in why you have chosen this path? I have probably even walked past you once before as i am always around the CBD or botanical gardens and southbank.

My main problem with what you are describing is that you refuse to take up centrelink? Why dont you and your friends get centrelink, get out a small house somewhere close to public transport, sign up for tafe and get your life back on track? How far can living on the streets take you? There is surely only a dead end right? My friends who are taking drugs (mull, meth, coke(small amounts), xtc etc. etc.) are slowly but SURELY heading down the wrong path. most of them can see this and just cant be fucked to get out of the cycle. This is because the crowd they hang with do the exact same thing, and its hard to change when you are the only one doing it.

I do not pity you as this is what you have obviously chosen to do, but i do feel sorry for you as I wish you would chose the path of a normal, non-crime life. I do not see you or your streetie friends as scum or anything below what i am, we are all human beings and i have the utmost respect for all people on this earth. Crime does not help your case, and its unfortunate that it comes hand in hand with being a streetie.

I will be doing my part and donating to the cause every week but even though i do that, i feel that it is clearly not enough. What else can i do? get a van and drive around? preach to you like i seem to be doing now? Force upon you religion (which i say is bullshit anyway). The only thing i am left to do is hope that the system may turn around and cater for you the best they can. But its hard to preach this when streeties do not take up centrelink?

Please correct me if im wrong on any of my points, i am able to take constructive criticism.

Cheers,
Lach