More than one quarter of Philadelphia residents, roughly 400,000 people, live below the poverty line. These are people that are one paycheck, one sick day, one more eviction notice away from becoming homeless.
As of January 2018, 1,083 people live on the streets, according to city data. Each person has their own reason for finding themselves on the streets. The Naming the Homeless podcast explores what these reasons are and how they differ to offer the public a better understanding of what it is to be homeless.
The Naming the Homeless Podcast Overview
Hi and welcome to the Naming the Homeless podcast, where I’ll be sharing stories of homelessness to promote awareness and better understanding of the issue. In the overview episode I talk about our mission and open up the floor for the questions that our Instagram followers had for us. Click play to find our why I started this project, what we do, and how you can do it yourself.
Brittany’s Story (Episode 1)
MOVING TO PHILLY FOR DAD’S CANCER TREATMENT AND HAVING NO WHERE TO TURN WHEN HE DOESN’T MAKE IT
At the time of her interview, Brittany had just turned 30 years old. She celebrated her birthday on the streets of Philadelphia, as she had done for the past 5 years.
When she was 25, her dad was diagnosed with cancer. At the time, with no accessible treatment in her home state of Kentucky, Brittany uprooted her life to start anew in the City of Brotherly Love, where her dad could receive the care he needed and give him the best chance of survival.
“He ended up passing away, and I don’t have any other family,” she said. “I couldn’t afford where he was living, so I had to get out. [I’m homeless because] I don’t have an ID, or birth certificate, or social security card, and I have one arm… and I can’t find a job.”
This is her story.
Naming the Homeless 