Melbourne street tour aims to open eyes to homeless plight
Some of Melbourne’s most fascinating buildings and landmarks will be throwing open their doors this weekend, as a part of the city’s annual open house event. But one tour will take people outside, to shine a light on how the homeless get by.
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00:00Melbourneans have been shivering through a real blast of wintry weather recently, rushing
00:08inside to get warm, so imagine if an alleyway like this one was actually your bedroom.
00:15That's the premise of a new tour called Eyes Open Ride Stories from the Street, and it
00:20aims to get people to take the blinkers off and really think about those people that they
00:25might simply be walking past every day.
00:28And I'm joined now by one of the people who's going to be speaking on this tour and has
00:31helped organise it, George Hatvani from Launch Housing.
00:35George, what sort of perspective are you hoping people who come on this tour are going to
00:40be able to get?
00:41Hi Steph, I think it's part of the theme of rediscovering Melbourne.
00:46It's that idea of open house, of a different perspective on an issue that is part of our
00:52city, the people that are experiencing rough sleeping homelessness, to travel around Melbourne
00:57on an e-scooter, which not everyone has had the chance to do that.
01:00It's about our idea of ending rough sleeping homelessness in Melbourne, Melbourne Zero
01:05by 2030.
01:06Let's take a look at some of the services that this amazing city has.
01:10A little bit beneath the surface, homelessness has always existed just below the surface,
01:14and there is quite a sophisticated service system.
01:17One of the people that we really need to hear from is somebody who has lived rough on the
01:22streets.
01:23And Phil, you've spent some time out on the streets over the past couple of decades.
01:29Just what sort of perspective do you think that this tour is going to offer, and what
01:33do you think about it?
01:34Well, in my opinion, it will open the people's eyes to what's the difference between normal
01:39and homeless people.
01:40It shows respect, it shows understanding, it shows love and all that sort of thing.
01:46You've got affordable housing now, Phil, but do you have any vivid memories of your time
01:50on the streets?
01:51Well, for me, if I have to take so much gear with me, one, gear can easily be taken, lots
01:58of violence can be quite scary, because it was scary for me as well when I slept on the
02:04streets, but I was lucky enough, and it was a short time sleeping rough.
02:11But along with those moments of cruelty and potential violence, there have also been some
02:16incredible acts of kindness, and you're now selling the big issue.
02:20How important is that in terms of connecting you to the community?
02:24People want to come up and have a chit-chat with you, people want to come up and give
02:27you a lot of stuff, like food, coffees and all that.
02:31Never say no for a free coffee, but general, people are just concerned and all that sort
02:37of stuff.
02:38I've been around for a long time too, so I've seen everything, and then this weekend, it's
02:44a very special weekend because they're doing the tour.
02:48I'm going to be one who's selling the magazine on the street as well, so just come, say hi.
02:55And what's the real takeaway that you're hoping that people will get from coming on this tour?
03:01To walk in their shoes, respect and kindness, that's all it is.