In the article “ Anderson Cooper: How I See Homeless People Now”, he describes how his perception of homeless individuals has changed because of his encounters with dozens of people living on the streets of Nashville while working on a projects for 60 Minutes. Cooper expresses his surprise at the candidness and honesty shown by these homeless individuals when asked personal questions about their situations. He was stunned by the fact that the majority of these homeless persons seemed more than happy to share their tragic stories, with most of them just being glad to have someone take an interest in what they had to say. These series of interviews quickly proved to be eye-opening to Cooper and his team because of the diversity of stories, with many of the homeless coming from a variety of different backgrounds.

Cooper admits that prior to this project, he was guilty of walking past homeless people and simply pretending that they are not there, something that most people in society do because facing these people has the tendency to make others uncomfortable. He discusses the fact that to the majority of the population, these homeless individuals are invisible and ignored, and that is the way that they feel. This was a lesson learned by Anderson Cooper that he considers a huge source of personal growth. In his interview for 60 Minutes, he explains that there is a man who camps and panhandles in front of his residence and has been there for some time. Before this story, Anderson felt annoyed and uncomfortable with the man being there and never spoke to him at all. However, after completing this project Anderson has since spoken to this man almost daily, at least greeting him kindly as they pass one another. He has also taken an interest in this homeless man and learning about his past and the road that has lead him into homelessness.

This story relates to the course material that we have been covering because it reinforces the key theme shown throughout all the books, that homeless people have a story to tell and these stories are worth hearing. Individuals who take the time to listen to the stories of the homeless grow in understanding and compassion for those living on the streets. Whether these individuals are addicts, suffer from mental illness, have come from backgrounds of abuse, have suffered from a physical injury, or any of the other reasons that they have ended up in the situation of living on the streets, they deserve to be heard and taken seriously. In Morrell’s text Voices From the Street and many other course readings, the stories of homeless individuals and their daily struggles are heartbreakingly portrayed and they definitely change the perspective of outsiders. As Anderson Cooper concluded, homeless people are just like any other individuals that you may meet, they have hobbies, interests, fears, and struggles, the same as everyone else, but they just happen to live without a home and therefore are constantly disregarded and invisible. The opinions of people who discount the homeless as unimportant would undoubtedly be changed if they took the time to listen to the voices of those who are on the outskirts of society.