News and Media
28 June 2010
Chief Operating Officer spends a night on the street for a good cause
Generally they are more accustomed to boardrooms, suits and ties; but a few weeks ago Canberra’s senior managers got a taste of what it’s like to live rough. Chief Operating Officer, Peter Howman, represented DHA and spent a night braving the Canberra elements to sleep on cardboard and experience homelessness first hand.
The St Vincent de Paul CEO Sleepout, started at around 7pm on a cold winter night in the middle of June with Peter joining 110 other Canberra CEOs and politicians who gathered with their pillow, sleeping bag and pyjamas in the ‘Garden of Dreams’ at the National Museum.
'We were given three bits of cardboard,’ Peter said. ‘These were to be used for making a tent if it rained, as a mattress, or to stop the cold coming up'.
After securing his cardboard and seeking out a key position with a bit of cover, Peter sought out the volunteers from Vinnies who were providing warm soup and a bread roll for dinner. After taking care of the essentials Peter went about finding out what he was really there for.
'Two homeless people spoke to the group,' he explained. 'They spoke to us about what homelessness felt like and they really raised awareness as to how it can come about.'
'There are really two main issues. One is that homelessness is often driven by domestic violence cases. There was a single mum talking about how domestic violence drove her out of home with her two children. While she was still working, one income was not enough to pay the rent, which is likely to cost around $400 a week and then she still need money to feed them.'
'The other guy there was an orphan and he was mainly looked after by the Boystown group,' Peter said. 'When he was a young teenager he just left home and lived on the streets. It was there that he turned to alcohol. He's now 44, and with the help of the guys at Vinnies he is learning to budget for the first time in his life.'
Another issue brought to his attention was the social isolation that is experienced by most homeless people. In the Canberra community alone there are around 1,000 people alone and on the street each night.
'You and I come to work each day and have a chat,' he said. 'But they will wake up at the crack of dawn, pack up their sleeping bag and with their $2 go and buy a cup of coffee. No one really wants to talk to homeless people. So they spend a lot of their day not really talking to anyone and that is real social isolation.'
But the evening wasn’t just about awareness and opening the eyes of some of Canberra’s most powerful business people to homelessness. It also raised funds for a very worthwhile cause.
Peter spoke with Bob Wilson, CEO of St Vincent de Paul, who was clearly impressed by the funds Peter had raised after only deciding to enter a week earlier.
'He [Bob Wilson] was saying that in Cuba there is no homelessness because as a society they look after and they provide accommodation, albeit not flash,' Peter said. 'So people on the streets have somewhere to go. Now what we do about homelessness here in Australia is the next question.'
So far Peter has raised $8,664, a fantastic effort in such a short period of time.
'It really is a credit to everyone in the organisation and everyone who got behind the evening and supported it. Every single dollar really does count,' Peter said. 'When you donate a dollar you think about what you are donating it towards and that was really the key objective of the night, to make people more aware of this issue.'
Peter's efforts make him the 6th highest fund raiser out of the 111 CEOs that slept out, which is a huge achievement.
'Thank you to all of those people who supported me and this worthy cause,' he said.