Photovoice Participatory Evalaution
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About
What is photovoice?
About the BRIDGES Photovoice project
Results
Life on the street
Housing and shelter
Access to services and benefits
Staff and peer navigator support
Stability and preparation for next steps
Contact
Participants all shared examples of life on the streets, including the hardships and dangers they experienced. Several also talked about the existing resources they learned about and took advantage of for food, clothing, and in one case, showers.
As far as I was concerned, I was one step away from real homelessness, living in my van. I wasn’t in the bushes.
Sometimes there’s just no choice.
Right over there is where the homeless would sometimes go to rent a room, on the first of the month, and invite people over, at the Days Inn. A lot of homeless people would rent a couple nights there, get some rest, cleanup, whatever. I never did. I never had no money.
Just before 11:00, I’d go over and ask them to fill up my thermos with hot water. Then, in the middle of the night, I’d put the warm water on my arms, my back, my feet. Anywhere I could to warm up.
I was sleeping in the woods, and at about 2-3 o’clock in the morning, a train north of where I was, actually hit a guy. This guy sat out on the train track and stared down the train, and when the front end of the train stopped, it stopped right here, and that hole right there, that’s where my camp was.
When 5:00 AM came, zoom. I’d rush in to use the bathroom and wash up fast before anyone came.
That’s the restroom that we had to use all the time. They totally just never changed it or nothing. It was pretty awful the way you had to use the restroom. I felt bad for the girls that had to sit down. It was an awful experience, but it was better than going to the bathroom outside cuz it gave you a little bit of privacy.
Blessings Under the Bridge. This is where we used to come and eat every Wednesday, and whenever they served up here, we were always up here to get some food. We’d meet each other up under the bridge all the time, whether to get money, do drugs or whatever. This is where everybody went to get high, and eat and stuff like that.
This guy would bring his motor home to Neighbors in Need every week so that anyone who wanted to could use the shower.
The Trinity Lutheran Church runs the Neighbors in Need program. You can get a breakfast, food to go for the day and prayer requests. You can also get clothing and toiletries. Even with housing, I still go back for prayer requests.
They let you store your stuff there during the day. That’s a place you can trust.