Dead man on the floor of the old city shelter. People laughing, joking, poking him with their feet.
It wasn’t me, yet it was. Flooded with feelings of depression, anger, mania,and fear. i don’t want to die alone on a concrete floor in a shitty shelter . We are disposable people in a disposable society.
Homelessness dehumanizes and isolates a person from society. We have the same needs, wants and dreams of a better future as anyone else.
We have parents, siblings, children and lovers, past or present.
We are human and deserve to be treated as such. When I was homeless the most important action a person could take was to simply talk to me. A person asking how I was doing humanized me and could pull me out of a depression.
Love is the most powerful emotion in my life. I may not like a person but I love them as a fellow human being.
The man on the floor has changed my life forever. I went to my first advocacy meeting the day he died and have dedicated my life to trying to help others for the last 3 years. I will continue this work as long as I am able.
Homelessness has never defined me as a person, Instead it has given me a purpose in life and a passion for helping others.
I am human.
