I met Troy in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has been homeless on and off for twenty five years, which he says is the result of being abused as a child.

Troy has a strong faith in Jesus. He believes it’s through that belief that he receives help and support.

Troy wants us to know that homelessness is a symptom of mental illness and trauma caused by the challenges of life.

Troy is a good man. He just needs a chance and some real hope. Faith based organizations need to be careful to teach more than Jesus. Often our homeless friends will refuse needed services saying “Jesus will provide all our needs”. Thing is, Jesus works through people. We need to be real with people and not present ideals that, although well meaning, could cause harm and keep people on the streets. I am not a bible expert or a theologian but I am sure Jesus wants no one to be homeless!

Special thanks to Mustard Seed

I met Martin at the Mustard Seed’s emergency shelter in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Martin has fifteen years of engineering experience, but because he suffers from depression, Martin found himself unemployed and homeless two years ago.

Things are looking up for Martin. The night I met him it was his first night working a temp job and you could tell he was gaining his self-worth back.

As Martin says, depression and mental illness can come on subtlety, but can destroy not only a person’s life, but his or her family, too. Often society looks the other way when someone is having “problems”. I am glad Martin found the help he needed. Many are not so lucky.

We must listen to the people around us for signs of depression and mental illness before they end up on the streets or worse.

I met Jim in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Jim was living with his son until his son beat him up again. He had no place to go and found himself homeless. Jim was lucky and found help at Calgary Drop-in Centre.

It’s very sad that elder abuse is on the rise. Seniors are being abused by relatives, neighbors and even care givers. Often they don’t say anything out of fear of more abuse, and often the abuse in money motivated.

Jim wants other people to not be afraid to say they are homeless and to ask for help. I know it’s not easy to raise your hand and say you are different. I had to fight it myself. But if you are homeless, or end up with no options but the streets, the very best thing you can do is ask help.

I met JR in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.  He has lived outside in the woods since February, which was when he was evicted from an apartment.

JR says living outside is not too bad right now. Of course, winter is fast approaching, and living conditions on the streets will change rapidly.

JR says something very important I want to make sure you hear. JR says he went inside for a short while and stopped drinking.  It’s nearly impossible to stay sober while experiencing homelessness. But when given the dignity of an apartment you’ll see people change for the better.

JR is our first story on aboriginal homelessness. In Canada, the aboriginal homeless population is disproportionate to any other homeless demographic.  InvisiblePeople.tv will always empower homeless people to share their own stories, yet because this is such an important conversation, I will be covering this topic in more detail on hardlynormal.com. The first post: Starting the Conversation of Aboriginal Homelessness: Interview with Adrian Wolfleg.

JR’s first wish is to simply “stay alive”!

Amy is only 22, and she is homeless. I met Amy in Kelowna, British Columbia, right outside a homeless feeding. If it wasn’t for the location, and seeing her eating at a table with other homeless people, I would have never known she was homeless, neither would you.

When I asked Amy what homeless is like she said “it sucks” – it does!

This is a hard interview to watch. Amy is a gorgeous, young girl, but you can hear the hopelessness in her voice.

Amy does not feel she has much of a future. We can change that – WE MUST CHANGE THAT! There is a saying that today’s youth are tomorrow’s future. Trouble is, homeless youth, along with homeless seniors, may be the fastest growing demographics of poverty and homelessness in many communities.

What are you going to do about the Amy’s in your neighborhood?

Special thanks to Kelowna’s Gospel Mission

I met Jeff in Vancouver, British Columbia. When I asked him what a day was like he responded “pretty much invisible”.

Jeff got a job and the guy that hired him offered him a place to stay. When the place was robbed Jeff was thrown out because he was an ex-drug addict and ex-homeless person.

Total, Jeff has been on the streets six years. When he sleeps inside he now feels caged.

Jeff is very smart. He knew a lot about cameras and we had a great conversation before and after this video.

Please do me a favor; watch and listen to what Jeff wants the public to know about homelessness.

One of the things that just drives me crazy is the ignorance in system failure. Often, I’ll have a homeless friend who truly wants to get sober. We can place him or her in a drug and alcohol treatment program. But because there is little to no affordable housing, after the program their only option is homelessness. Homelessness is hard to do sober so they go back to drinking and using.

I almost didn’t approach Randal. Even to me he didn’t look like a “street person”. Randal is homeless in Vancouver, British Columbia. He had a problem with drugs and sought help. But when the program ended, yup, you guessed it, he found the only option given was sleeping in a homeless shelter.

Randal is clean and sober a month and two weeks. He is looking for work. Right now his only income is panhandling, which he does to hopefully get enough to pay for an SRO (single room occupancy hotel).

Randal talks candidly about housing options in Vancouver. Sadly, and I have seen this all over, “landlords” are offering housing that is really not suitable for living while taking every penny from someone’s government assistance. There are cruel people trying to make a profit of those who have close to nothing and are vulnerable.

Randal is a young, educated person who just needs some help to get his life back. We must create jobs for people who want to work and we must create affordable housing. There is no other option. People like Randal should not have to live on the streets without housing.

I met Steen while walking through a park in Vancouver, British Columbia. Local Vancouver homeless friends call the area “The Bird Sanctuary” because of the growth of trees in an urban area. I would have never found the place if it wasn’t for Vancouver homeless advocate, Judy Graves. I am honored and grateful Judy took the time to give me a tour of the city.

Steen is a colorful character. You can see years of street life in his face. Steen tells a very real story about life and death on the streets of Vancouver. He tells us a very detailed story of how he ended up on the streets this time.

Steen says he has been promised housing befotre he has to survive another winter, but bureaucracy keeps delaying the local housing project under construction.

Steen says his friends are in and out of the emergency rooms. He is concerned about two of his friends he believes are close to death. When I asked Steen how many of his friends died last year he responded “conservatively six. It could have been a couple more”.

This is a very powerful interview. The lack of affordable housing and people dying on the streets stand out. I hope Steen’s story of people dying mess you up as it has me. Especially when these deaths can be avoided with housing and supportive services. No one should die homeless – no one!

I meet Ian in Victoria, British Columbia. He used to make a living as a welder but came down with stomach issues. He went to the hospital and had two tumors cut out of him. Ian has lived a colorful life to say the least, so the rest of the story you just have to hear for yourself. He admits he has the “gift of the gab”. I could sit and listen to Ian’s stories all day.

For survival Ian does a little panhandling and sometimes dumpster diving.

The day I met Ian he had five day sober. On the streets that is a miracle. I hope he keeps at it. Ian is a very strong man and can do anything he puts his mind to. I wish him all the best.

Amber lives in Nickelsville, a tent city in Seattle. She has lived there a little over a week.

Amber says because of the economy family shelters are full, and because tent cities don’t accept kids, Nickelsville is home – at least for now.