MEET MORE STORYTELLERS
Georgeann Ayres
“It’s so hard. I’m ashamed to be a homo sapien right now. I am ashamed that we’ve gotten to this point. It’s rare to find people who have empathy.”
Robert Brown
“The biggest risk out here is saving your money for the right thing, for the right move, for a rainy day.”
Daniel James Little
“I don’t get no sleep, and being out here, I always have to be on my toes. Because this is a whole ‘nother world out here.”
Kali Manupule
“There is hardship out here. And that’s exactly why I do drugs. And so a lot of people a lot of time, they ask me, ‘why do you do meth?’ I do it to be normal. I do it to be able to function during the day.”
Krystle Little
“I’m not going to die out here under a bridge. I have so much more to offer the world. I’ve never been to the ocean. I’ve never rode a carousel. I’ve never been on a roller coaster. Like, there’s so much more than this. I’m just in a rut.”
Dylan Hensley
“It’s difficult at best to get hooked up with any homeless services. And if in fact you do, it probably won’t last long because they got a lot of different rules and a lot of different personalities and a lot of stuff ends up clashing.”
Lena Wilson Valdez
“It’s really hard out here for females. Especially if you’re meek. People take real bad advantage of females that haven’t been out in the street world and haven’t had to speak up for themselves.”
Joseph Hill + Chanell Taylor Stonich
“Cash is few and far between for me these days. I basically survive on the barter system. No matter what, somebody’s got something you need and you have something they need.”
— Joseph Hill
Jean Johnson
“People need a chance to be shown that they’re cared for —that they’re thought about, that this isn’t the end of their life, that they don’t have to settle for this, that their life will get better than this.”
“I know people don’t want to see people lined up on the streets in tents. I want to see people in homes and with their families, being able to have their friends over and have a good time.”
BenJAmin Dale
“When I was homeless, and really in the car, it’s impossible to keep yourself presentable.”
“You’re thinking in your head, ‘do they see it in me? Do they know I’m homeless? Do they think I’m a drug addict? All this stuff starts going through your head.”
Kelly Tuckett
“I know where I came from, and I want to work for my money and be productive in society. It feels a lot better, you know?”
Alexis Anderson
“Going from a house to a tent is devastating. Just having to figure out how you’re going to use the restroom, how to shower, how to keep up with your belongings, because there’s always somebody coming to take it.”
Gregory Williams
“I have family here, but I don’t want to burden them because for the majority of my life, I’ve been pretty successful.”
Ginger
Gibbons
“Most people think, ‘Oh, they’re homeless because they’re drunks or they’re drug addicts’. Most of them––they aren’t, until they’re out here.”
Tanya ‘Star’ Mercer
“We have to do what we have to do in the streets. That could be anything you could think of, but I don’t do anything that could harm people.”