Response to Speakers by Brian

4/5/11

Photography and the Human Condition

            Tuesday’s interviews with the former homeless people really affected me in a positive way.  It made me take a step back and analyze myself and some of the things in life that I take for granted, from my own house to jobs that I have had in the past.  Though this is the land of the free, being homeless can easily strip you of your freedom to do as you please.  The guy my group and I interviewed whose name is James, explained to us his story fighting and dealing with not only homelessness but drug addiction.  Growing up in a Christian household being the oldest of 2 children with strict and religious parents, he naturally became rebellious and started doing his own thing.  Although he was a roofer out of high school, his drug addiction kept him away from saving money to afford housing so he bounced around from shelter to shelter either a family members or on the streets.  For his situation the drug addiction kept him out of reach of a decent shelter, although by choice the fact that he was without a home is very chilling. During his run on the streets with his habit, he was referred to a detox program by a friend who had already been going through it.  He had left us with a quote that will probably stick with me for the rest of my life; “Never look down on someone because you never know who you’ll have to look up to”.  Speaking to him about his experiences really motivated me to work harder in school and to not look down upon all homeless people because not all of them are in their situation by choice, some due to circumstances out of their control. 

Speakers' Bureau Photos

Pictures from our class visit. Thank you to AmeriCorps VISTA Jackie Hodgson, Charlotte Sida, and Porsha Olayiwola for working with me to coordinating the event and bringing the speakers to BFIT! We look forward to having you return next week to help with the photographs and commentary. We are excited to get to work, and hope to be able to capture your experiences through our lenses. - Prof. Greco

Homeless by Derek

Every time I think of word homeless, I imagine a person who has no home and nowhere to go. But the truth of the matter is there is so much more to it than just that. On Tuesday in my photography class we had speakers of the homeless come talk to our class about the experiences they go through on a daily basis and explain how they got there. Some the speakers themselves were once homeless. So they know and gave us stories of what being homeless was like.

            One the speakers told us about his experience about how he became homeless. He told us he had grown up in a strict and very religious household so when he was of age he took his opportunity to go out and explore the world. He worked as a roofer and through that and his former coworkers he got into drugs. Eventually he lost his job but he felt he needed to support his drug habit so he got into theft. When the police caught up with him he was in and out of jail. Then one day when he was out of jail he had run into a friend who took him to rehab. For him the rehab had worked and through the program he was able to find work. He had found himself a job and is now living a clean life and couldn’t be happier.

            In hearing these stories I learned that when you’re homeless it’s not necessarily a choice. Some people could end up in string of bad luck like drugs or alcohol with no one to turn to. But when you hit rock bottom that’s when God could shine a light on you in the form of a total stranger. Its not always guaranteed to work but more often than not it’s a beginning.

Response to Speakers by James

On Tuesday, April 5, 2011, a group of who used to be called homeless decided to visit us that day to talk about their experiences when they were unhoused (homeless). They volunteered to tell their stories to us. One guy who we interviewed was name Tony. His background was raised by a very strict family (mostly his father who was strict). He described his father’s power as the man who ruled the household with his iron fist. Because of his father’s power, he became rebellious and decided to go the other way than the way his father wants him to be in.

            He then started to hang out with the wrong people, started to sell drugs as a drug dealer, later developed becoming his own customer. He then started to get into his own troubles. He was shot, stabbed and got into fights based on his drug dealing. He was a traveler. He would only travel to avoid from the troubles (he travel from state-to state so he never really got a home from time to time.

            Although, he does has children, 5 kids: one daughter, 4 sons. He has no idea where is daughter is but his 3 sons means the world to him. His 4th son is something though. He is pretty much going through the same path as his father was going through. Also, throughout his out his rough journey, his sons kept him alive along with God. He strongly believed in him, even though he was on and off towards him but it’s what kept him going. Now he loves life, even though he looks back and wish he could fix his past.

"Nowhere To Go" I took this photo because most people would stereotypically think the homeless would live in alleys and streets. But where would you go if you had nowhere to go?

Homeless by Brian

4/5/11

Photography and the Human Condition

            Usually when people think of the homeless a lot of ignorant remarks are made as to why they are in the position they’re in. When you do the research on it, it really opens your eyes to the reality of it and makes you reevaluate your situation in life.  Homeless people lack what we take for granted on an everyday basis, and a lot of people do not realize it because they’re not in the same state in life.  Homelessness is caused by a number of things, from drug addiction, to sheer laziness, some homeless people are war veterans who came back from war and weren’t provided with the substantial amount of help to get them back on track so they ended without a place to stay.  Some folks go through a lot of financial hardship that subsequently led to their homelessness, while others just don’t have the money to acquire affordable housing.  To imagine that some children have to endure such living circumstances is also very unsettling as well, surprisingly 41% of the homeless population is comprised of families with children which is very disturbing.  Some of the leading causes of homelessness in this country are, a lack of health care because if a person gets into an accident and needs medical assistance the bill is usually an astronomical amount of money, and some will sacrifice rent or mortgage to pay that thus leading to them being homeless.  Another leading cause of homelessness is domestic violence.  Women who are a part of an abusive relationship will leave it and turn to living on the streets to avoid the abuse. 63% of the women who are homeless have all experienced domestic violence in their lives, from either verbal or physical.  For some, drug addiction is the cause of their homelessness.  Some will choose their drug of choice over rent or mortgage due to the need to be appeased of stresses the deal with on a day to day basis.  For others who are already homeless due to other reasons and factors develop a drug problem, thus making the process of getting out of their situation harder for themselves, but at the same time coping with the fact that they’re without shelter.

Homeless by Richard

There are millions of homeless in America and more millions worldwide there are many ways that people became homeless. Homeless is cause by people lacking in responsibility. People can become homeless because they lose their job or eviction or loss of family. When they are homeless “they mean nothing to us” so some say.  They become invisible to much in society. Many violent crimes are and have been committed against and by the homeless. Many homeless keep all their possessions with them because they have no access to storage or close family.

Can you imagine being homeless, the days go by just walking around not earning any type of pay. Not accomplishing anything, or taking the time out of an empty day to fill out an application knowing you will not be employed. Endless days of and cold night nights are the future for the homeless.  Homeless people experience the city in different ways They see almost everything that happens on the streets .They’re many different types of homeless people like the "bag" people, the shopping cart people, and the home-style soda can collectors who sort through garbage to find items to sell, trade and eat.The homeless have to carry all of their possessions with them all the time because they have no place to store them.

Because they don’t have access to shelter it’s almost impossible to find bathing or access to toilets and laundry facilities, so their hygiene is terrible. Most of society doesn’t care for the homeless but some say it’s because of their actions why they ended up that way so who cares. It’s messed up that people have to live like this  at the bottom under the bottom that’s why you have to work hard to achieve certain things in life.

Homeless by Sonya

4/4/2011

S S 245

                In the world today there are many deferent circumstances that lead to homelessness.  But when narrowing it down to a certain area such as America. There are more people in today’s society that have no homes and live on the street or in shelters. We mask it and say that America has an opportunity for everyone to prosper. But why make it so hard to do so. There so many reasons for people to be homeless.

            One is rent prices in today’s economy. for landlords to keep their houses and not lose them they raise rent. Then the tenant is out of luck and cant afford to live there forcing them to the street. People are committing arson to collect insurance money, but this forces them to the streets as well. Think about it there is a flat piece of land around every corner were there used to stand a house.

            The economy is sinking and sinking fast the lack of jobs is making it hard to live. People how would live in their car can’t afford to put gas in it because the gas prices are almost at $4.00 dollars.  This forces them to sell their cars and go to a shelter where there is barley any room.

             Then you think about the tornados and earthquakes , all natural disasters. That take towns cities, lives, homes, and cars. These event ruin everything and people take forever to recover and restore their lives. Some families never do and they move to other states or countries.  Some never find new jobs and become homeless and their families are dragged to the same.

Homeless by Hadiatou

SS 245-Photography and the human Condition

April 5, 2011

There are five top leading causes to homeless in America. The first one is the lack of affordable housing because the study is found that the rent in Boston went up by eighty five percent in 2009. The second leading cause is families such as my have has or is experience not being able to afford their rent with their minimum wage hour’s job, which leads them to go homeless. The third one is Domestic violence when women flee domestic abuse; they are often forced to leave their homes and nowhere else to turn so they turn their lives to the street. The forth one is lack of affordable healthcare. Few Americans have healthcare insurance, or if they do the premiums are so high that healthcare is not affordable. Last but not lease we are left with natural disasters such as fires, tornados, and hurricanes are great leading cause for homelessness in our country.

Before I read this article I always though that the main leading cause of homelessness with people in America were substance abuse. So I’m surprise to learn that it is not that much of a great factor of homelessness. I was mostly shocked at the numbers of statistics that read that a twenty percent of veteran makes up the homeless population. It did not only say that about five hundred thousand veterans are homeless each year in America; but it also stated that over one hundred and ten thousand veterans are homeless every night. I’m appalled to read this because these are the man and woman that gives up everything to go over seas and puts their lives in danger to protect this nation, and to think that when they return they have no home to come to, it sadden me.    

Speakers and Statistics

Today my students met with a few members of the Faces of Homelessness Speakers Bureau. This organization is a part of the National Coalition for the Homeless and their goal is to promote awareness about the issue of homelessness. The speakers and the coordinators of the organization came to our class for lunch, presentations, and some discussion. My students were great hosts and welcomed the individuals to our classroom with gravitas and maturity. We broke in to groups and the students were able to spend some one on one time with the speakers. The experience was great and I am so thankful for the participants. My students will be writing about their experiences with the speakers and with their project over the next three weeks! - Prof. Greco

Some Statistics on Homelessness

General Statistics

• 3.5 million people are homeless every year in our country
• On a daily basis just over 671,000 people are experiencing homelessness
• In 2009 the National Alliance to End Homelessness predicted that there would be an additional 1.5 million people homeless over the next two years
• In 2009 37 million people lived below the poverty line

Families:

·      Families make up the largest group – accounting for 41% of all homelessness

·      85,000 families experience homelessness each night

·      1 in 50 children will experience homelessness in America each year this is approximately 1.5 million children each year.

·      42% of all homeless children are under the age of 6

·      As of march 2009 Massachusetts accounted for 17,505 homeless children

·      Of these 17,505 children 13,090 were enrolled in public schools

·      35% of all emergency assistance families are placed in motels/hotels

Veterans:

·      Veterans make up 20% of the homeless population

·      Over 110,000 veterans are homeless every night

·      Approximately 500,000 veterans are homeless every year in America

·      1 in 4 adult males who are homeless have served our country at one time

Top Five Leading Causes

1. Lack of Affordable Housing ·  In 2009 the rent in Boston was found to be 85% higher than the national average

2. Lack of a livable wage · An employee working minimum wage would have to work 89 hours in one week to afford a two bedroom apartment

3. Domestic Violence (DV)

·      1 in 4 women will be victims of DV in their lifetime

·      50% of all families experiencing homelessness are fleeing a DV situation

·      25% of all homeless children have witnessed some physical abuse

4. Lack of Affordable Healthcare · 1 in 3 Americans do NOT have healthcare

5. Natural Disasters