Ron
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
I met Ron in St Louis, Missouri. Ron was living with his nephew and then his social security disability payments were stopped. The only way he could fight to get them back was with a lawyer, and because he didn’t have money for legal help Ron ended up homeless.
Please forgive me but I am about to go into a little rant. At the time of this interview, Ron lived in a shelter that is 10 days in and 30 days out. That means after staying there 10 days you are kicked out and cannot return until after a 30 days period! THAT IS STUPID! No one can get their life back in 10 days, or 30 days even. I know of a shelter in Anchorage, Alaska, that is 30 days in and 30 days out. Imagine you lose your job and then your apartment. It’s winter time and you go into a shelter. If you cannot find a new job and come up with a months rent and security deposit within 10 days, or 30 days, you are kicked out in to the cold weather.
Shelters that run policies like this will tell you it’s to motivate people to find work and a place to stay. But the real truth is it’s money. This type shelter does little to get people out of their crisis and actually perpetuates homelessness. Although I am a big supporter of housing first model, there is still need for shelters, but this type shelter system makes no logical sense and much change if we are to have any impact on ending homelessness.
Ron is 65 years-old and is spending his retirement years homeless. Sadly, we are going to see more seniors on the streets as the ‘boomer generation’ gets older. Without savings, assets or healthcare, this will tax our social services system to the crisis level, yet no one is walking about it.
David
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under canada, face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
David has been homeless in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, ever since he lost his wife and his dog, and then his house.
David says Fort McMurray is the best place in Canada to be homeless. Because deposit cans are 25 cents each homeless people can make $100 a day recycling. Thing is, Fort McMurray also has the highest cost of living of any city I have visited in North America.
All David needs is a full belly and some clean clothes. David only had two wishes. He wants his wife back and his dog back.
Special thanks to Centre Of Hope
Lee Anne
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under canada, face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
Lee Anne is 24 years-old and lives in a homeless shelter in Montreal, Canada.
Lee Anne lost her job because of the failing economy and couldn’t afford to stay in her apartment. Lee Anne was lucky. She never spent any time on the streets and was able to find a women’s shelter.
Special thanks to the Bowery Mission
Marlo and her children
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under face and voice of homelessness
This is the homeless you don’t see but need to see. I met Marlo in a weekly rate hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The whole family, two adults and four children, live in a small hotel room.
Marlo says there are days she does not even want to wake up, but her children keep her going. From hotel to hotel then shelter to hotel and back. Families with low and no income get caught in a vicious cycle of nonstop crisis.
One thing Marlo says in this interview I hope you hear loud and clear. She is trying to potty train her youngest kids early because diapers are so expensive. My friend Lisa, who founded Help a Mother Out, educated me on how social assistance doesn’t pay for diapers. Later when I started working with homeless families I saw first-hand how badly low-income families need diapers. Marlo mentions she was almost arrested for panhandling trying to get diapers for her children. Please support your local diaper bank and click here to support the Diaper Act.
Special thanks to Joy Junction
Erin
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under canada, face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
Maybe the hardest thing for me to help ‘normal’ people understand is how drugs and alcohol take over a person’s life and that it’s not so easy to quit. I get that normal people can have a drink or two and then never pick up a drink for days or weeks. Unfortunately, many people are not ‘normal’ drinkers and booze completely destroy their lives. I was one of those people who could not quit, and so is Erin.
I met Erin on Ottawa, Canada. I have a lot of respect for Erin. She had the courage to be open and honest about her situation and that is a character trait that will help Erin on the path to her recovery.
Erin only spent a few nights on the streets before she found a woman’s home. When she told the story of sleeping on a hospital bathroom floor my heart broke.
Special thanks to outreach nurse Kathy Morgan and Cornerstone Housing For Women.
Taylor and Mike
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
Mike and his 6 year-old daughter Taylor live in a homeless shelter in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mike was hurt at work and without income they lost everything.
I work helping homeless families in Los Angeles and it’s extremely hard to find services for single dads. Most shelters are setup for single females or two-parent families. When I was introduced to Mike and Taylor I was so very glad to see they were being helped.
Taylor is very mature for being six years-old. Before I took the camera out she was talking nonstop, even giving us all instructions on the interview. Once the camera started she became quiet except when I asked her for her three wishes.
Taylor only had one wish and that wish is still messing me up.
Very special thanks to Tulsa Salvation Army
Richard
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under canada, face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
I met Richard in Saskatoon, Canada. He was born in Toronto, but moved to California when he was five. Richard moved back to Canada eight years ago after they detected an aortic aneurysm and his insurance in the U.S. jumped from $140 a month to $3,400 a month. A month ago he had a stroke and ended back in the hospital. Social Services gave Richard a bus ticket but he had no where to go but a homeless shelter.
Richard sleeps on the floor of a homeless shelter waiting for more transitional housing to open. His smile blew me away when he said he was glad to be alive. Even though all he has is a mat for a bed Richard says it’s still a thousand times better than being on the streets.
Kind of puts it all in perspective. What happened to you today that made you cranky?
For those of you that have been following me for a bit I am sure you’ve heard me say one of the best things we can do is give someone our positive attention. Watch the end of this video and listen to Richard say how just someone asking him for his story made him feel better.
Asking people “what’s your story”, and then genuinely listening, is one very simply way to make another person feel special.
Special thanks to Lighthouse Supported Living
Scooter
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
I’ve know Scooter for a little bit, yet this was the first time we met in person. Over the last year or so, if I tweet out I was having a technical issue with video gear, the guy would work overtime to help me find a solution. Interesting, Scooter is homeless. He lives in a van parking in a New Jersey Walmart parking lot.
Scooter lost the house he lived in for 27 years and has now lived in a van for 3 years. He didn’t lose his house because of the economic crisis, but because of a few bad decisions and health issues.
You can find Scooter on twitter as @scooter_NJ. He also writes a blog, which I found out about when I bought him coffee at McDonalds. The guy behind the counter, I think he is a manager, won’t touch Scooter’s mug, or allow the other workers to fill it up. So he fills a paper cup up and then pours it onto the mug. He then throws the large paper cub away, and that wastes money. You can read about it here.
Scooter is a huge Glenn Beck fan. I didn’t even know Glenn Beck had a subscription based television show until this interview. Scooter wants is to be able to watch Glenn Beck via free wifi. If any of you have connections to Glenn Beck, let’s try and get Scooter a subscription, and maybe even Mr. Beck will visit Scooter and do a show on America’s homeless.
You may look at Scooter’s situation and think it’s not that bad. Well, trying living in a van in a parking lot indefinitely. Even though he is not sleeping on the streets, living in a van is not by choice, and it is homeless, and it is horrible. One of the fastest growing demographics in homelessness is mobile homeless. People lose their jobs, then their apartments, and then try and stay in their vehicles as long as possible. Some people like Scooter are lucky. Scooter wants to survive and has survival skills. Many people are not so lucky.
Cheryl
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
I met Cheryl in Burlington, Vermont. Cheryl is pregnant and currently couch surfing.
Cheryl’s homelessness is a result of several bad relationships, some of which were abusive. Before you judge her, keep in mind life on the streets is not a normal life. It’s a horrible existence willed with lots of pain. Some people escape with drugs, some escape through relationships. For a single female “survival sex” may be the only way to survive.
At a young age Cheryl was sexually assaulted. She then grew up in foster homes, which also attributed to her being homelessness
Darryl
Posted by invisiblepeople | Filed under canada, face and voice of homelessness, road trip 2011
I met Darryl panhandling in Toronto, Canada. He has been homeless on and off since 2007. Sadly, Darryl aged out of foster care with no place to go. Even worse, that is the norm not the exception for many young adults in North America.
Although reports vary, since at best any homeless data is a good guess, one report I read this morning states in the United States, up to 50% of former foster youth become homeless within the first eighteen months of emancipation. Twenty seven percent (27%) of the homeless population spent time in foster care. In California, 65% of youth leaving foster care do so without a place to live. That is just unacceptable! I would bet Canadian foster care youth statistics are similar.
I was really shocked how people just kept walking by us. The few that turned only did so because they were curious why I had the camera. Darryl said “you get used to it”, yet no one should have to “get used to” being ignored.
