Homeless need jobs to get back on their feet: Cr Ristevski

Peter Ristevski wants to help the local homeless people who want to help themselves.

The Liverpool councillor who has quickly become the champion of the local homeless says the key is to help them find work so they can save enough for a rental bond.

“The problem for a lot these people is that they became homeless after losing their jobs so now they need some help to get back on their feet,’’ Cr Ristevski says.

And that’s exactly what at least 20 local homeless people will get from Liverpool Council after the first meeting of its Homelessness and Housing Crisis Taskforce was held earlier this week.

At the instigation of Cr Ristevski, Liverpool City Council will provide a six month rotational temporary work opportunities for 10 homeless people in its outdoor maintenance department.

Council will liaise with St Vincent de Paul Men’s Crisis Centre Liverpool for the work placement opportunities and work with government departments to enable their wages to be subsidised.

But with around 700 homeless people in Liverpool, the council initiative will hardly make a difference unless local employers come to the party.

“That’s what we are going to tackle at the next taskforce meeting,’’ says Cr Ristevski.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Council is showing leadership on this issue, it’s showing the way and we hope that other local employers will follow suit because this is a very important issue.[/social_quote]

“We have to do everything we can to get these people back to a normal life by helping them get a job and from there a roof over their heads.’’

Cr Ristevski said he started to realise Liverpool had a homeless problem when he walked past the music shell in Bigge Park from time to time and saw that it was home for some of them.

“When I first saw the homeless people in the music shell it really hit me emotionally,’’ he says.

“But when we [the council] knocked down the shell it really hit home that these people now had no home at all, that the only roof over their heads had been demolished by Liverpool Council.

“I think that was wrong, but I decided that I would try to find out more our homeless and how we could help them.’’

Cr Ristevski became such a passionate supporter of the homeless he invited a few of them to be his guests at the 2015 mayoral ball.

But while a lot of people applauded him for his unconventional gesture, there were some detractors.

“These are human beings down on their luck and if they want help we should try to give them as much as we can,’’ Cr Ristevski says.

“They have lost their jobs so they have no money, then they get kicked out of their homes because they can’t pay the rent, so they end up sleeping rough in cars or park benches, wherever they can find some shelter.’’

Cr Ristevski says he is aware not all homeless are in that state for the same reasons.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I know there are mental issues involved with other homeless people but at the moment we are trying to help those who can get back on their feet and put a roof over their heads.[/social_quote]

“That’s what this task force is all about.’’