Author's note: After a year or so of personal adjustments, growth, and discovery, Naming the Homeless is back with a post from our archives. Regular installments are expected to resume this Summer. Thank you for your continued support in this community project to raise awareness about homelessness and give a voice to the voiceless. Virginia's... Continue Reading →
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." Read more to hear about her experience of living on the streets and feeling invisible.
When I met Derrick, he wasnt homeless. Even though I wrongly profiled him, and regretted doing so, he told me that I shouldn't and that he glad that I did. Derrick said that that's how he see's the good in people, when they have an immediate impulse to help others. Derrick had been homeless for 15 years of his life, and he's seen how people are taught to think with their head first, instead of their heart, and that's a stigma. A stigma against people like him.
After graduating high school with a seventh grade education due to a learning disability, Turhan has worked his entire adult life to support himself--until now. "Labor is my only skill," he said, "if I can't lift anything, I can't work." At age 49, he developed an inguinal hernia that caused him constant pain and left him out of work and, because it's technically not an injury that he sustained while on the job, he never received workers' compensation. "That really hurt my feelings," Turhan said, "I'm a loyal employee, I put everything into my work because it's all I have... I couldn't understand why they wouldn't help me." Unable to work and with no other source of income, Turhan turned to the streets, where everyday is a battle with depression for him. "I don't want to hurt myself--I want to recover," Turhan said. Read more to find out what happens next.
Tamika graduated college. In fact, she went to my university, Rowan, and got a degree in business. From there she began gaining more work experience and a thirst to see the world. To celebrate her success she would travel the country with her family and boyfriend of 10 years. In May, her boyfriend passed away. Tamika couldn't believe it. She began to struggle to support herself on her own and found herself on the streets. She used to look down on the homeless and now she is one of them. Read more to find out what happens next.
Jeanette's interview was completely unexpected, we had originally finished our interview for the day with Belinda. We were on our way back to the train station, passing out sandwiches along the way, when we saw Jeanette walking away from the station. We stopped her and asked her if she would like our last sandwich and her reaction was priceless. She claimed that our approaching her was a message sent from her children in heaven that they are watching over her. She admitted that she was feeling a little down that day and that our kindness really meant a lot to her. Jeanette is not homeless, she lives in a personal care home. Before she moved to the home she was homeless for two years and her story and all that she has endured throughout her 70 years is nothing short of incredible. *The spelling of Janette's name has been corrected.
Naming the Homeless 