Kelly approached me at a forum about fighting the increase in the criminalization of homelessness this week. She walked up and asked, "are you Mark of Invisible People?" Kelly then asked if I can help her tell her story. I didn't think she was currently homeless so I responded that Invisible People empowers people still in some state of homelessness to share their stories. Kelly then enlightened me that not only is she still homeless she is sleeping outside in an alley.
Since May of 2016, Kelly has slept in this alley in Washington D.C. She goes through a dumpster each night to find cardboard to sleep on. Kelly shares candidly about how homeless women need to wear a skirt at night to urinate, however, doing so increases the risk of being sexually assaulted.
Kelly has two master degrees; she is intelligent and articulate. She says her homelessness is a result of her search for justice after ongoing legal battles. She came to D.C. to continue her fight for justice but ended up in a women's shelter. When that shelter was closed last year, she had no place to go but the streets.
I have to give huge props to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP) for including Kelly and several other people currently in some state of homelessness. Even more, people still experiencing homelessness were not just scholarshiped into the event, they were at the table and included in every conversation.
People still homeless are by far the most important voice that service providers and governments need to be listening to. Some homeless conferences just bring in homeless people as a form of tokenism, so it's very refreshing when organizations like the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness include homeless people in the event and treat them as equals!
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About Invisible People:
Since its launch in November 2008, Invisible People has leveraged the power of video and the massive reach of social media to share the compelling, gritty, and unfiltered stories of homeless people from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. The vlog (video blog) gets up close and personal with veterans, mothers, children, layoff victims and others who have been forced onto the streets by a variety of circumstances. Each week, they’re on InvisiblePeople.tv, and high traffic sites such as RU-vid, Twitter and Facebook, proving to a global audience that while they may often be ignored, they are far from invisible.
Invisible People goes beyond the rhetoric, statistics, political debates, and limitations of social services to examine poverty in America via a medium that audiences of all ages can understand, and can’t ignore. The vlog puts into context one of our nation’s most troubling and prevalent issues through personal stories captured by the lens of Mark Horvath - its founder - and brings into focus the pain, hardship and hopelessness that millions face each day. One story at a time, videos posted on InvisiblePeople.tv shatter the stereotypes of America’s homeless, force shifts in perception and deliver a call to action that is being answered by national brands, nonprofit organizations and everyday citizens now committed to opening their eyes and their hearts to those too often forgotten.
Invisible People is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the way we think about people experiencing homelessness.
30 сен 2024
