Henry ("Homeless Hank") MaslakPrint Page

The plaque commemorates Henry (Homeless Hank) Maslak who died in 2018.

Those who knew “Homeless Hank” loved him for being an old fashioned gentleman who never failed to gather an audience to hear one of his stories. His death on Christmas Eve sent shockwaves across the homeless and volunteer communities. The 70-year-old, born Henry Maslak, was well educated and employed, before his circumstances changed for the worse.

Sydney is awash with commemorative plaques. There are brass shingles to governors, poets, explorers, bankers, politicians — the list goes on. They tend to be prominent, powerful and successful. But there's a move afoot to honour a long-term homeless man with a plaque of his own at Sydney's Martin Place — recognising that up to 300 people have nowhere to sleep each night in the city.

Key Points: 

• Henry "Hank" Maslak was also known as Hank Homeless
• He was well-known among the city's rough sleepers
• The City of Sydney will vote on the commemorative plaque at a meeting on Monday night

The man, Henry "Hank" Maslak, died on Christmas Eve in Sydney's St. Vincent's Hospital and was mourned by many. Despite doing it tough, he was well known and admired among the city's rough sleepers and those providing services to the homeless, including the Orange Sky mobile laundry, the Footpath Library and Vinnies Night Patrol. He was a regular at the tea, coffee and library service on Tuesday nights at Martin Place, the site proposed for the plaque

In a recent documentary on his life rHank showed he hadn't lost his humour despite life's slings and arrows. "I used to have another name in my previous life, but now they call me 'Hank Homeless'," he said in the documentary. "You can't call us homeless anymore, it's politically incorrect. "(Now) It's residentially challenged, but 'Hank residentially challenged' doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?"

Mr Maslak's backstory is typical of many homeless people. Changed circumstances took the roof from over his head and washed away the advantages of a happy childhood, good education and successful work life. "I remember walking past this bloke sleeping on the St James [Court] steps and I thought: 'I wonder what happened to that poor bastard?' And three months later, move over, I was next to him. "I was just so surprised how quickly it happened."
ABC News, 8 April 2019.

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