Michael’s mission: helping Edinburgh’s homeless – photo essay
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Version 0 of 1. The photojournalist Margaret Mitchell documents the work of Michael, who helps distribute essential food and supplies to those living on the street and in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh As coronavirus changes lives everywhere, how does society continue to care for the most vulnerable among us? As lockdown began, many homeless people who relied on services had their scheduled activities, drop-ins and groups cancelled, leaving a chasm in lives that rely on structure to maintain wellbeing. Michael is one person whose own experiences in recovery and homelessness allow him to identify with those on the street and in temporary accommodation. Since the start of the lockdown, Michael has walked the streets of Edinburgh with a bag of supplies, offering food, support and advice to those who cross his path. The faces in these photographs show not only the friendships and bonds that Michael nurtures, they also reflect on lives lived on the margins during the crisis. It is the middle of May, more than seven weeks into lockdown. Michael has been walking around Edinburgh nearly every day, handing out food supplies. Michael himself is homeless and lives in temporary shared housing. He, more than most, understands the lives of those he chats to and helps. Michael arranges for extra supplies to be delivered to him at his hostel and sets out daily to feed the vulnerable on the street. His bag is filled with sandwiches, drinks, crisps, fruit and paper bags. Kenny is originally from Glasgow and will be 50 this year. He sits with his friend Steven discussing their birthdays. Measuring their homeless lives in years as yet another birthday comes up. Kenny’s arm is broken. The plaster was irritating his skin so badly that he took it off. He now has only a thin splint holding his painful and misshapen bones in place. Michael knows Kenny well, a familiar face stretching back years into a world in which he had his own addiction issues. Steven originally comes from Maryhill in Glasgow and is 48 years old. He tells us of his childhood, of the flats where he was brought up, the places he went to as a child. Steven tells us there are not so many people passing and offering change in the empty streets of Edinburgh. Michael sees some individuals daily and gives out food, weaving his path through a city of ongoing difficult lives and stories of vulnerability. We bump into Dean twice. Once as he waits to get into the Access Point, a service for homeless people with significant support needs. He is trying to secure a roof over his head for the night. Nearly two hours later, we meet Dean again, holding tightly onto the bag of food that Michael gave him earlier. Signs of vulnerable lives are everywhere in the city. Discarded traces from those society has failed. Mark has been trying to sleep in a cemetery but was moved on. He tells us he’s very tired, needs to get his head down and will try to get into a hostel later. Not everyone who is homeless looks like we expect them to, Mark tells us. He’s been homeless for three years now. “We’re all sorts, the homeless, all types of people. I made a bad decision a few years ago and now that’s it. I’m on the street”. Later, deep among the gravestones, we pass the sought-after prime location. A place that affords a roof over the heads of the most vulnerable in society. Jonathan is waiting to see a doctor at an Access healthcare practice for people who are homeless. The hours have changed due to the pandemic so he is waiting on the street for it to open. Lives are complex, and not everything is as we expect. It is the ability to see those we pass on the pavement as the same as ourselves, just as Michael does as he walks the streets of Edinburgh handing out food. He sees that people’s lives have somehow taken them on a different path, one not always chosen, or even imagined. The day finishes after 3pm. Some people need food, some want to chat, some ask for advice on getting a roof over their heads for the night. Although councils have committed to housing everyone during the Covid-19 crisis, it is not so simple. Some people’s lives don’t fit into neat boxes, some choose to stay on the street, some are evicted from temporary hostels for minor issues because the support is not there for their needs. Michael is joined by Lyndsey, who until recently was also living in a homeless hostel. Together, they walk the city, into the places where they know they will find those in the extremes of need, just as they once were themselves. |