Brenda. “Yes. Yes, that’s my name.” We’re here in New York City. “Yeah. I came here in January.” So are you sleeping on the sidewalk here? “I’m 60 years old. I’ve worked for 35 years. I’m a college graduate. I have no record. I’ve never been arrested or charged and I sleep on the sidewalk.” “They’re drug addicts. They’re idiots.” “Homeless, addicts, criminals have pretty much taken over Seattle.” “They’re not the homeless people I grew up with.” “I mean, these are the people who are hearing voices and are on drugs.” They just need to get a job. . How do you find a job if you can’t take a shower? [MUSIC PLAYING] My name is Mark Horvath. You’ve done a great job on TV. Then, in 1995, I ended up homeless for eight years. This inspired me to interview homeless people in 2008 and share their experiences on my YouTube channel. Is there anyone here who can help you? “I’ve been independent since I was 15 years old. Last year, approximately 650,000 people in America were homeless on any given night. I want you to see how I see them. Connie. “Yes. “You’re homeless. Tell me about it. “The owners wanted to own the property. They didn’t have three bedrooms to accommodate me and the kids. We moved down to a crappy motel. I wasn’t happy with it because of the kids, and I was bouncing from couch to couch for a while, and then I met this guy and here I am. ” People become homeless for a variety of reasons. But the main cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. “It took me 72 hours to get out of the compound, but now I’m homeless. I don’t want to leave here. I have nowhere to go. I’ll be 55 on January 5th next year. It’s a personal story. But I don’t have a family, and I don’t have anywhere else to go, so I never thought I’d end up here on Skid Row, sleeping on the docks and behind stores. “I worked as a classified contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense for over 20 years and bought a house on a beautiful lake in North Carolina. Two and a half months later, my financial institution closed. “My master’s degree is in adult education and training. If I had been paid more commensurate with my qualifications and experience, I probably wouldn’t have been in the situation where I lost my apartment.” I’m a single mother.” In the 15 years I’ve been interviewing homeless people, the biggest change I’ve seen is the national and political push to criminalize homelessness. “It will soon be illegal for homeless people to camp in parks in Tennessee.” “A new law in Missouri will go into effect in the new year, making it illegal for homeless people to sleep on state land.” “Wednesday. Governor DeSantis signed a bill that prohibits people experiencing homelessness from sleeping or camping in public places.” And if you don’t move, “Then we’ll ticket you.” , How many tickets do you have? “There are too many to count. I think I’ve achieved about 30 in the past year and a half.” 30 tickets. “They’re $300 each.” Oh, and about being homeless? “Yeah. To exist.” You can’t arrest your way out of homelessness. Simply moving people to another city will not solve the problem. Many people immediately assume that all homeless people are doing drugs. However, the vast majority of people on the streets do not have a substance use disorder. Some of the people who do are really honest about it. “My problem is that I’m addicted to heroin. That’s basically why I can’t get off the streets, and I basically gave up everything for heroin. So what does shooting heroin mean? If someone asks if it feels like that, then maybe that’s the only thing that makes a man give up money, work, family, etc. [BLEEP]:.”:.” I only met each of them for a moment. We can’t confirm their backstory, but we can confirm that they are homeless. And by blaming the homeless, we blame the people on the streets for failing to solve the affordable housing crisis. “I got blown out of New Orleans by Hurricane Ida. Then I moved to Colorado.” Yeah, that was a while ago, right? “Yeah, I went back there. It was the anniversary of Katrina, where I lost his wife.” Oh my god. “Yeah.” Sorry. “Yeah. It’s been a trying decade.” “Everyone blames it on drug abuse or bad choices. And I’m sorry. That’s not always the case.” “If anyone’s listening. , we just want a place to go.” Thank you for speaking with us. [MUSIC PLAYING]
