Street hawker makes it his mission to help homeless with mental illness

“Danny”, as he calls himself, lives on the streets of Jordan. He did have a room for a while, but now he has to take his pile of cases with all his belongings wherever he goes. They’re covered in tape and plastic to protect them from rainy weather. He’s happy to see hawker Chau Shu-tak and after our chat wants to have lunch with him.

Danny – Chau doesn’t know his full name – is one of an army of homeless people in Hong Kong. More than 25 years ago, Chau, 67, a Catholic, talked with the priests at his church in Kowloon about helping the homeless. The priests went on to help the drug addicts and other homeless, but Chau decided to focus on the homeless with mental illness – the most isolated and transient group.

“They are usually aged between 30 and 50,” Chau says at the McDonald's near to where he has his permanent government-rented green stall selling bedding in Jordan. He estimates there are about 80-90 homeless people with mental illness across Hong Kong, a number that is difficult to track as they tend to be on the move more than other homeless. But over the years he has come to know most of them.

Chau is not keen on becoming “well known” through media attention, but does want the issue of the homeless with mental illness publicised, so that the public becomes more aware of their needs. Five evenings each week, he closes up his bedding stall and walks around the streets of Jordan and other areas to search for and try to help mentally ill homeless.

“It took me a long time to build up a rapport with these people,” he says. Mental illness can induce paranoia and a lack of trust, so while the Social Welfare Department and other government organisations are keen to help and provide support, often the homeless with mental illness don’t wish to go the offices, says Chau. Many no longer have their ID cards, which also makes it difficult to get them into the system and help them.

But when Chau started with his mission 26 years ago, there were no special subsidies, he says. Friendly priests, such as Lee Mo-fan, who was also recently nominated for the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, would often take in those needing shelter – particularly when rainy weather flooded the areas where they were living on the streets.

When Chau heads out in the evenings, he stops for friendly chats. His two objectives are to gently persuade the homeless he meets to go with him to the SWD but he also, where he can, tries to get them to a doctor to help provide medication for their conditions, which can include schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. While some of the homeless he meets have a mental illness at the outset which has contributed to the reason they are living on the streets, he believes that the stress and pressure of a homeless life and surviving day to day can also sometimes lead to mental illness.

Chau also tries to help them by finding their family members. “Recently in Jordan I managed to find one man’s family members, and they were living in Guangzhou,” he said. “So the family members said that this person has a cousin living in Hong Kong and the cousin has been willing to help him, so this has been a good story.”

“Ideally it’s best if you can get them to a doctor or a hospital for treatment, but if they resist, then I just have a friendly chat with them,” he said. “Also they don’t like to wait, so when you do get them to line up for social security payments or for treatment at the doctor’s, it is difficult to persuade them to queue up.”

As with Danny, Chau has a good rapport with many of the homeless people he meets and says that very rarely has anyone acted in a violent manner towards him.

“There have been some women,” he said, “but mostly men and many are alcoholics. They often don’t accept others, have become estranged from their families and ended up on the streets with no ID cards. Those with mental illness tend to be by themselves, floaters. On the other hand, homeless drug addicts tend to gather together, so there is more social interaction.”

Chau also comes across acts of kindness from the neighbours of those living on the streets. They provide clean water for hair washing, and also will help pay for the funeral, if the person dies. “Sometimes people try to give me the money to organise the funeral, but I tell them to send the cheque directly to the funeral home,” says Chau.

Chau, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, goes out between 7pm and 10pm. When it rains it’s more difficult to find the street sleepers, he says, as he prepares for another evening on the streets of Kowloon.