Our America: "Homeless - In Their Shoes"

NDTV, Salvation Army Director hugs homeless Alvin Henry, 2019.

Welcome to the first unit of Journalism! During this first unit of this course, we read a book called Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago. It's a story that takes place in the 90s, and it's about two young teenagers, LeAlan Jones, and Lloyd Newman, living in the ghetto. Last week, we even had an FE with Mr. Jones! It was really cool since each of us had the chance to ask any questions regarding his journey and how his life has changed after publishing this award-winning book. That Fe helped with the AP since it gave us an insight into what we were actually doing.

For our first AP, we were asked to interview three people who live or lived in our neighborhood about what they like about it and what they are concerned about. And when we are done interviewing those people, we were instructed to compare their responses with one another and see what each interviewee talked about the most and write an article about that topic. 

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I live in Downtown Chicago. And as of right now, the population is 37,647, but if you live in Chicago or even visited, you probably know that there is a big problem with the number of homeless people living there as well.

I interviewed all three of my people, and they all seemed to be concerned about that same topic. The homeless population has increased in the area and it is alarming to see so many people out there on the streets, especially when COVID-19 is far from being over and the weather is gradually getting worse.

The three people that I interviewed were my mother, friend, and cousin. Not only because they are close to me and I enjoy talking to me, but these are some of the most opinionated people I know and I just knew they would have valid responses.

I was right! Please read what my interviewees had to say and my response to it, thanks :)

Interviewee 1

Tommorrow Snyder, Stand For Children, 2019.

Name: Tommorrow Snyder

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Relation: Mother

"There are a lot of homeless folks on the street and sidewalks which brings to life the wealth disparities in our country." 

I agree with this statement, without a doubt. Not only did she bring the country into her response but it is the truth! Like every other place, Downtown Chicago has a problem with disparities, not just racial disparities, but in terms of those who are homeless. People in Downtown Chicago are living in condos, paying $2,000-$5,000 a month, with their new iPhones, and Gucci shoes, but can't even give a homeless person a dollar. Instead, they walk right past. I have to admit, I use to be scared to give them money since you never know what they would do with it, but if you look at the joy on their faces when you give them a little something can lift a giant weight off of your shoulders that you probably didn't even know was there.

Interviewee 2

Jazmin Monroy, Instagram, 2019.

Name: Jazmin Monroy

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Relation: Friend

"It can very alarming to see homeless people trying to find shelter as the weather gets colder."

I agree with Jazmin's response. I actually used what she said in the intro since it is true. The weather is slowly getting worse and it can be really scary since we don't want to be in the cold, but imagine homeless people have to go through to get through the winter. Last year, it was so cold that a homeless man named Marshall passed away while wrapped in a blanket, he lived right outside of a pizza place called Rosati's which happens to be right around the corner from my home, and we found out from another homeless man that also lives around the area.

Last, but not least: Interviewee 3

Samar Carmack, Instagram, 2020.

Name: Samar Carmack

Pronouns: he/him/his

Relation: Cousin

"The population is getting bigger ever since the pandemic started and I worry seeing them out there since some of them have children."

I agree with Samar's response as well. I said this in my intro as well. The pandemic is getting much worse. Major cities such as Chicago, Las Angeles, and Chicago have especially been hit the hardest in the beginning. But anyway, many people have lost their jobs and homes due to COVID-19. You can see many people and their children holding up the cardboard with it saying lost my job, no house, please help us, or I am just hungry. It is truly heartbreaking and when you see a child on the street along with the parent, it is even more heart-wrenching because the children need a proper meal, a proper education, a stable house to sleep in.

I got the information from the following two paragraphs from here.

"I would have to go the bathroom at maybe 3 o'clock in the morning to do my homework because I still wanted to be that student I knew I could be," Kaleyah says. Kaleyah's mother lost her house, it was devastating, but she gained support from others in the shelter they were living in. She says that "they became like a second family because we embraced each other's struggles."

There is an estimate of 40,000 homeless people living in the city including thousands of public school students in shelters, tents, parks, etc. In 2014, there were over 22,000 students who were homeless, 2,500 students growing up in a house with no adults and raising their siblings, but still went to school. Since 2003, Chicago donated $5 million towards homeless shelters, but Chicago's Department of Family, Support services, or Rahm Emmanuel would speak about it.

Next time you see a homeless person, my task for you is to at least give them a dollar, get them food, or something simple like starting a conversation with them. They are human beings just like us and that is all they want you to treat them as. Think of how you would feel if you were in their shoes.

Thank you for reading this blog, I hope you enjoyed it, if you would like to learn more about Downtown Chicago and my interviews, please click this slideshow :)