HE’D taken part in CEO sleepouts before, but nothing could quite prepare head of Lifeline Canberra Mike Zissler for the “real” experience of life on the streets.

“The [Vinnies] CEO sleepout is a great cause, but at the end of the day you’re surrounded by colleagues, you’ve got shelter, minders, and there’s tea and coffee,” he says.

“When you’re homeless, you’re on your own, you’re fending for yourself – you’ve got nothing.”

Stripped of his cash, phone and wallet, Mike spent almost 24 hours homeless, sleeping alone under a bridge, in deep winter, as part of a social experiment for one of three short films shot by award-winning Melbourne filmmakers Mike Hill and Sue Collins.

Each film is designed to expose the reality of homelessness in Canberra and raise awareness and support for Common Ground Canberra, a new housing project.

With around 70 people sleeping rough every night in Canberra, Common Ground proposes to build up to 80 units for a mix of people who are chronically homeless or on low incomes.

Specialists in mental health, social work and employment support would be on hand to help residents.

Common Ground housing has already been established in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney and is being developed in Tasmania and Brisbane.

Director of Common Ground, Diane Kargas, says while the Territory Government has acknowledged the model is a good idea, the main hurdle is obtaining capital funding.

“There are currently no homeless shelters in Canberra for men in particular,” she says.

“We’ve just gone through winter, and one of the coldest winters we’ve had in a long time. With organisations like Vinnies, the Smith Family and the Salvos – all they can give, if they’ve got it, is warm clothes and a sleeping bag. And just seeing people having to leave with just a sleeping bag is just heartbreaking.

“We want to get people into accommodation, and then find out what their needs are. We help them build self esteem, get their cooking skills up, get their health and hygiene right, help them try and find employment.

“We are hoping the Government will make a commitment to fund this model, and we are hoping people will watch these films and get behind this.”

Mike says he jumped at the chance to help promote Common Ground, swapping his suit for clothing from Vinnies.

Left to fend for himself, he went through the process everyone must go through when they find themselves homeless.

“It was hard from the start – I was told there would be no room in any of the refuges, for at least two nights,” he says.

“I was given a sleeping bag and had to find a safe place to sleep, and woke up the next day after sleeping really poorly – cold, sore, in pain. And I thought, ‘well that’s ok, it’s another day’. But if you did that every night, it would erode your capacity to do things. It’s just so hard.

“I think if you arrived on the streets sleeping rough, and you didn’t have a mental health problem, you might after a couple of weeks. You don’t have simple things, like water or somewhere to go to the toilet. There’s a dignity thing, there’s a risk thing. People get beaten up just for being homeless.”

Mike believes it can be easy for the homeless to lose their sense of self.

“We are what we wear, where we work, where you see yourself,” he says.

“If you don’t do that, you lose all sense of identity. The homeless people I met were known not by their names, but by their nicknames. They don’t say, ‘I’m Mike Zissler’, because they no longer relate to a person.”

Some of the people Mike met had been homeless for up to 22 years.

“Here at Lifeline we get calls from people who have been homeless for just two months, who are suicidal – they just have nothing, and they come from all backgrounds, it can happen to anyone,” he says.

“To have something like Common Ground is really important. This is a way forward, it’s a long-term sustainable solution. I think the Government and decision makers have got to realise a serious intent really works. We need to change the rules around homelessness.”

Mike believes it’s become easy for people to turn away from the pain around them.

“They’ll walk around the homeless person, avoid them, they’ll cross the road rather than look them in the eye,” he says.

“But the problem is here, right in front of them.”

He recalls one night where this became startlingly clear.

“On the night I was homeless, there was something going on at the Canberra Theatre, lights on, people having a good time,” he says.
“Meanwhile, there were people sleeping rough just metres away. It was a cold night, and I was sure those people who were doing the walk to their cars from the theatre were saying, ‘gee it’s cold, won’t it be nice to get home’.”

More information on the Common Ground model at http://commongroundcanberra.ning.com/