Street corner advocacy

I’ll never forget the first time I really thought about homelessness. It was during a monologue by a guy who’d worked with the homeless, describing the hardest part of their situation. “It’s not being hungry most of the time. It’s not sleeping outside when it’s freezing,” he said. “It’s being invisible.”

So when Austin non-profit Green Doors needed 100 volunteers to claim a corner and hold a sign, I was like, “And I get a t-shirt?!”

I’ve talked to quite a few people who are homeless, both as a reporter doing a story, and as a volunteer delivering food to folks sleeping beneath underpasses. Each person has a story to tell and is grateful for someone who cares enough to listen.

Green Doors is doing a lot more than listening. They’re using these sign blitzes to get word out about some of the key reasons people end up homeless. The first street campaign pointed drivers to a video about homeless vets. Volunteer Coordinator, Greg Esparza, says in addition to just, you know, valuing people, there’s a tax incentive to help homeless get off the streets.

While on the corner, I broke in my new camera interviewing Greg.

If you didn’t catch that, Greg says it costs $40K a year to pay for someone on the streets, and about half that to help them into housing.

Some more stats:

• Nearly 30,000 Austin families qualify for but lack affordable housing. (Foundation Communities)
• Families with children make up 41% of Austin’s homeless. (Green Doors)
• Among industrialized nations, the U.S. has the largest number of homeless women and children. Not since the Great Depression have so many families been without homes. (Green Doors)

There are two more street campaigns in the coming months: one addressing homeless families and one on the costs of healthcare. Wanna help next time around? Get on their mailing list to volunteer at a corner. Thanks, Green Doors, for making it easy for the rest of us to help!