Really interesting article in the New York Times about the tent cities that are becoming more and more common due to the current economy. The slideshow of the conditions these people are living is really pretty harrowing...even in the midst of such intense poverty, you can't help but be impressed by the ways people are able survive without a true home.
Read it here.
Thank you for this article. You may or may not know, but one of my main projects this semester has been creating a new Food Not Bombs chapter, to serve a local tent city, located only 15 minutes from campus. The issue is real. It is grim. And whats worse, these places are actually now being regulated, with stipulations that often times exclude many homeless. In ontario, the residents are forced to show proof that they are in fact from ontario, on paper. This is hard for many for obvious reasons: how many homeless do you know who have papers?
ReplyDeleteThe line: “I just built it because I need it,” said Mr. Flores, ..." speaks to me in such a real way. I am remembering my post on the take-over in harlem; these cities/squats are the majority of the time out of pure necessity. Most people are not choosing to live this lifestyle, although I am sure we all know at least one person who has made that decision.
but yea... shit is real. anyways, i think we are going to be serving food next week for the first time...im super excited. there is sooo much food that is thrown out every day, really enough that no one should go to sleep hungry. Go dumpstering!!!
Dumpster diving is sweet. The Trader Joe's here gets rid of so much food.
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