Street Situations

Passing By People Without Homes
Originally uploaded by Blue Dragonfly Girl

Crianças e adolescentes em situação de rua: children and adolescents in street situation.

That's how the agency I'm working for refers to kids and children who are homeless. The dictionary definition literally translates to "without house."

My experience here with people who are homeless has felt eerie. I'm not alone in this - I recently saw a local newspaper headline about the invisible homeless.

Back home in Texas, when I stop at red lights at intersections, I feel very aware of the homeless people I encounter. Usually, we chat. They have funny signs for busking. I hand them a bottle of water. We smile at each other. The light turns green and I leave. I'm not saying this is enough, or that it pretends to solve anything, but at the very least it's some human interaction. 

Here though, people who are homeless seem to try to blend into the backdrop. They don't look at you. They're very quiet. They don't ask for money. They're this presence that's strongly felt, but still easily invisible because you don't have to notice...Taking this picture was too easy to do because they weren't looking at me either.

I have the opportunity to talk to some folks who work with children, adolescents and adults without homes and I am really curious to hear about their work...