February 2009
I was sitting at home one morning last summer when the telephone rang. It was one of the people who look after our churchyard. "There's someone sitting on the bench in front of the church. He's been there for ages and he’s obviously homeless. Do you know who he is?"
I had no idea who he might be. I left home and walked round to the church. He was still sitting there. I greeted him and sat next to him on the bench.
I didn't recognise him but "obviously homeless" was a very fair description. He was an old-style "gentleman of the road". His clothes looked old and filthy - and so did he. He had his belongings in a shopping trolley and a large bottle of white cider by his side.
He told me he had been on the road ever since his wife had died twenty years earlier. He said he had two daughters but was a bit vague as to where they were living. He claimed that he never used Day Centres or Night Shelters and was definitely not interested in ours.
Eventually I shook hands with him and left. Then I went straight home and scrubbed my hand thoroughly! He stayed around Chelmsford for a couple of weeks or so but then disappeared.
Unfortunately his could be the sort of image people have when they hear us talk about homeless people. Those CHESS tries to help are very different. Hardly any of them would be described as "obviously homeless"; some of them are better turned out than I am. Our help is generally focussed on those who can best build on it to help themselves.