08/21/2019
This is John. John loves ci******es. He cooks with a gang of garlic. And he played lead guitar on a hit record in the 60s. ( I swear to god look it up lmao “Malaguena”- The Fantastics).
When we met John he had just been turned away by his family, and he was spending his last dollars for the month on a $80/night motel room. Because John is disabled and elderly, as many homeless people are, he did not have the option to simply get a job and save for a place to stay. He lives off a fixed income, and after his cigs and his prescriptions (recently finished cancer treatment), that $700 every 1st doesn’t shake out to much, especially not a reasonable wage for someone to survive.
Given that his family was not willing to help him out, even though they knew he’d be on the streets, he really was left with no options.
Thankfully, we were lucky enough to be able put him up for the weekend and send him out to family up north, but his living situation is still not secure. After being turned away by that fam too, he is now in a shelter, and it is still a very real possibility that John ends up on the streets. For a 73 y/o stroke survivor with limited use of his right side, living on the streets could very realistically result in his death.
As stark as that is, it is an unfortunate truth that we have to recognize every time we see homeless people. Although John is a unique 1of1 person, his situation is all too common.
***Homelessness is a human rights issue that should not exist in a country of such abundance.***
And even if you are not in a position to help, it’s critical you understand that these people are still deserving of compassion. Look at John. That is a smile on a man who literally did not know where he was going to lay his head in 24 hours. We may not have been able to give him a permanent place to stay, but by showing we cared and just conversating with the man, it made that time of hardship that much more bearable. Change starts within, and if this project had one simple goal it is to get people to understand one thing: these are Human Biengs with their own stories, dreams, and traumas just as you are, and they are deserving of respect.
♿️