Whether you live in a house, apartment or room, you organically make that space your home.

It is your sanctuary. Your place to escape from the outside world, and retreat into a peaceful space.

In essence - the perfect recipe for a good night’s sleep.

A place that every human should possess.

But have you noticed more and more people don’t have what you do?

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The day before the 2019 Worldsleep conference, my family and I were excited to explore Vancouver. Whenever stepping foot into a new city, we like to gauge our bearings and get around on foot. This day, we were headed to the tourist spot - Gastown - and then my wife wished to do one of her favourite things, and pop into a few recycling stores, on the way to the Chinese Gardens.

After we left the crowds at Gastown, we took a right turn to do our ‘thrift crawl’.

And for the next hour, we felt the most tension we’ve ever felt on a holiday.

This was a notorious area where homeless people from around Canada lived (because the west coast was relatively warmer).

We happened to be in this location, at the time of day, when many of them were going through the drug withdrawals from their morning escape from their realities.

Over the next hour, we did the breast stroke - popping ‘up for air’ in the odd thrift store - until finally we arrived in the calming surrounds of the Chinese Gardens.

There’s a noticeable gap in the chronology of our holiday photos that day. And it is a small period of time that we rarely reminisce about …

College of Education, Psychology & Social Work

On a cold winter’s morning in 2018, I opened my curtains and saw someone rummaging around in our bin that was out for collection. For the remainder of that week - I could not get this experience out of my head.

Unlike the many of the homeless we saw in Vancouver, this homeless person seeking anything useful in my bin, was a woman.

At this time, there are two homeless males in the area.

But now, a woman.

I felt I had to do something with these whirling thoughts. Put them into action. Then, the idea came.

I was in charge of a 4-bedroom sleep lab, that had a kitchenette and self-contained bathroom (including showers). There were also 100s of undergrad psych students who needed volunteer experience - and a local shopping centre that, at times, used to give away their leftover food at the end of the trading day. And currently, we weren’t running any studies in the lab. They were free. Just sitting there, unused.

I sent an email to the College management, detailing my idea.

There was a quick reply, acknowledging my email. Remarking how it was a thoughtful idea - but not without risks … “Let me get back to you” finished Sardi Calver, the Operations Manager.

Sardi never did.

And to be fair, I never followed up with anyone. Even though, the idea kept coming back to me like a boomerang.

The importance of a Bed

Most of us who work in the wonderful world of sleep, probably do the same thing. We are focused on humans who have a bed to sleep in - so because that box is ticked, we try to improve their sleep in other ways.

Meanwhile …

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported on homelessness last year - on 2021 data.

At the time, 122,494 people were homeless, including 17,499 children.

In America it’s worse. Not the percentage of the population, but just the sheer number. 653,104 people were homeless last year, including 111,620 children.

I’m sorry, but that’s fucked!

But perhaps what’s more fucked is that this week …

Rather than hear it second hand from me, it’s worth getting informed by reading the Slate article.

You may or may not have realised it but while a lot of us are helping people sleep better - which is a noble cause - there are 1000s of people around the world who are moving from ‘stressed-in-my-bed-sleep’ to I don’t have a place to sleep tonight.

We shouldn’t forget to help these people too.

“I Want To Help People Help Themselves”

… was a common answer I heard when interviewing would-be candidates for postgrad clinical psychology positions.

Again, a noble cause.

But for every night that passes by - for every day that thoughts whirl around one’s head - how much action is being taken?

Thankfully, there are many organisations who are helping the homeless - which means very little research is needed to find a place to invest some of your hard earned dollars.

For example, one such organisation that has piqued my interest is We Are Mobilise.

I became aware of this mob when I briefly met Nedd Brockmann - the wonder kid - the one who became the fastest person to run across Australia (left to right … well, west to east) just a couple of years ago.

Nedd’s record breaking run raised $2 million for homelessness - and now he’s aiming to $10 million!

This is where WINK will be investing some of it’s money.

Conclusions?

I’ve been saying ‘invest’ because there is a return involved when donating to homelessness. Although it might be unseen, your investment is out there. In the community you live in.

WINK has been helping people directly and indirectly move across a threshold - from poor sleepers to good sleepers.

Helping people who don’t have their own home, are at risk of becoming homeless, or don’t have their own bed, well, this fits the same ethos.

And in no way am I the first sleep researcher to care and do something about the provision of sleep to those in need (I’m looking at you Drs Jodi Mindell and Ariel Williamson).

And as you lay your head down on your pillow tonight, when those thoughts enter your mind - like, “Did I lock the back door?” - hopefully the other thought is about your pillow, the bed your pillow is on, and the action you will take to provide others with the same …

• Prof MG