I met Soda Pop in Austin, Texas during SXSW. He’s been on the streets since 1996 except for periods when he was in jail.
Soda Pop survives with a combination of panhandling and soup kitchens.
As a society, we must stop this rotation from jail to homelessness and then back to jail. Right after this video, Austin Police stopped in front of us. For a second, I thought they were after me for some reason, but then I remembered Soda Pop was behind me, and quickly the police officers placed their attention on my new homeless friend. The criminalization of homelessness does not solve homelessness, it just increases taxpayer costs!
