Viewing this documentary put homelessness into a different perspective for me.  It was hard for me to see because I have never seen homelessness in this light.  I never really seen how the homeless live on a daily basis.  Seeing how Taylor wanted to create some sort of change was hopeful that there is still a number of people who care enough to try to improve the homelessness issue.  Growing up, I was always told to stay away or ignore the homeless population.  It was hard to see the harsh words that people would say to describe this community because it was similar to things that I have heard around the community.  People would rather choose to ignore the problem rather than figuring out a way to solve it.  Even though Taylor did not win his campaign, what he showed was enough to show people that things need to change.  People should not be faulted for being poor.  I do not think they should be faulted or constantly ticketed for choosing to stay out on the sidewalk.  Since we are a culture of individuality and free choice if someone chooses to be homeless why are people trying to change it? If people are trying to get off the street why aren’t more of the shelters or programs more willing to be flexible with their rules/regulations in letting people in? The stereotype of the homeless community turns people away from seeing the fact that they are just like any other ‘normal’ people who choose to stay outside.

The film, Taylor’s Campaign, introduces the story of one homeless man who decides to actually fight for the rights that should already be given to the homeless community naturally as all humans deserve these rights. Throughout the film, the audience can visually see the life of the homeless throughout Santa Monica and how society throughout the city handles this type of “community”. The film portrayed the acts against feeding the homeless, implemented by their very own city’s council. How can homeless citizens continue to have the willpower to live when the city in which they reside in constantly dehumanizes them? The council’s defense against feeding the homeless was the act itself allowed the homeless community to gather together to receive food, thus creating a “disturbing” sight. Instead of the government creating policies to help these citizens get off the streets and into a safe living environment, the council attempts everything possible to get these “humans” as hidden from society as possible. Tourists do not want to go on a weekend getaway and be surrounded by the one community who cannot afford or even dream about experiencing a weekend getaway. This scene of the film truly opened my eyes to the fact that the majority of everyday society is aware about the homeless community, but instead of creating useful and practical policies, we decide to blame these individuals for doing something so bad in their lives that they end up alone and homeless. In reality these individuals experience multiple factors that could have led them into poverty, but who says society needs to automatically assume they deserve the life without constant food, water, shelter, and a safe sleeping environment?

Unfortunately, it seems like the number of organizations in the Redlands area that serve those living in poverty or who are homeless are decreasing rapidly. The first internship organization I was assigned seemed great. It seemed like it was inclusive, like it was serving a large amount of people, and was making a name for itself in the community. However, it just recently shut its doors and is now allocating its services and resources to other organizations in the area. As sad as it is to see a great nonprofit close down, what is even more sad is that it is not the only one. Just in the Redlands area alone there seems to be a recent decrease in the number of agencies providing services to the homeless. As we have talked about in class, Redlands and nearby San Bernardino are definitely not predominately wealthy communities. I think being on campus all the time disallows us from seeing the reality of the area we are living in. If places like even the Salvation Army are not able to stay open here, who is serving and helping the homeless and near-homeless? I have been thinking about this a lot lately, especially after watching the film in class on Wednesday. In the city of Santa Monica, there was only one shelter people could stay in, and one recourse center that would help them get jobs or housing. In places like Santa Monica, or the Greater Redlands area, there must be the need for such shelters and organizations, but yet they are barely able to stay open in large numbers. This seems to just fuel the discouraging cycle of homelessness and poverty.

When we watched “Taylor’s Campaign” I was shocked that some people look at homeless people with such distain that they can suggest letting them starve to death. For the most part I have considered people to have some sympathy and whether or not believe that homelessness is an issue that should be helped by outside sources or not believe that those who are homeless should have the right to get out of their predicament whether by receiving help or by working their way back up. I was surprised that there are people who are willing to so callously claim that the homeless should just die and leave them without the considered burden. It reminded me of a scene from a Christmas Carol where when asked if he would like to donate to help feed hungry and starving people Scrooge inquires about the condition of work houses and prisons, when the two asking for charity saying many would rather die than go to those places Scrooge comments “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” I honestly never expected a sentiment like that to be expressed to openly, especially while on camera for everyone to see. Everyone needs a helping hand once in a while and to suggest that because some people need a lot of help they should die I find appalling. I feel it comes from a lack of awareness as to how people can become homeless and how hard it is for those with jobs at the bottom of the pay grade to maintain enough income to support themselves.

Last Thursday, Rowan and I rose before the crack of dawn to participate in the Redlands point-in time homeless count. We drove to a LDS church on Wabash Ave and were both assigned to a team of four comprised of ourselves and two Mormon men working to complete their missions. The organizers at the church designated us to a particular spot (a rectangle bounded by Lugonia Ave, Redlands Blvd, Nevada St, and Alabama St) in which we were supposed to drive around and scour the landscape for unhoused individuals. Once we were given a clipboard with a bunch of surveys, bright orange safety vests, and supply bags intended to be given to unhoused people after answering our survey questions, we were on our way, ready to locate unhoused people.

Our group ended up finding/encountering about 7 or 8 unhoused people inside the bounds of our assigned area. We located some unhoused people living beside the abandoned railroad track, and others either panhandling or walking around. Most were willing to answer the questions listed in the surveys we as volunteers asked to them, though some chose not to do so. The ones who did choose to engage with us seemed to believe that providing their information and contributing to research on unhoused people was an effort that would ultimately benefit themselves and others who were going through experiences similar to their own.

I imagine that those who chose not to engage with us did so because, in their cases, divulging information such as one’s gender, race, age, and medical history to volunteers explicitly saying that they’re interested in collected data about homeless people would feel like a blatant reminder of how their existence is unfortunate. Generally, I found the the way in which the survey stood as a reminder of people’s plight interesting, but I still enjoyed participating in the count nonetheless. I was able to engage in conversations with almost every individual we met who was living on the streets, which was really quite rewarding.

Learning about the ways in which society ignores and shuffles the homeless population has made me think a lot about how homeless people are made into an underclass. The movie we watched last Wednesday, Taylor’s Campaign, detailed very well the ways in which homeless people are disenfranchised, dehumanized, and pressured by political institutions. What struck me about the movie was the idea of a man running explicitly as an advocate for the homeless, and how there are simply no spaces for the voice of homelessness in the political sphere. Taylor’s Campaign is an effective depiction of how capitalism and American society targets homeless people and makes them subhuman. The truth is that large and powerful forces are invested in sweeping homeless people under the rug, so to speak. Policemen routinely mistreat homeless people, city governments renege on promises, and political forces slowly attack the livelihoods of homeless people. This seems to be by design. Homeless people have no economic means by which they can petition the government, and I would imagine very few homeless people vote. Additionally, society is individualistic and people have little empathy for the plight of others. Towards the end of the movie a series of people spoke about how homeless people are responsible for their own problems, how they don’t belong in public spaces, how they ruin the view. One man even said that homeless people should starve. People don’t want to be bothered by the sight of homelessness but they don’t want to deal with the root causes or subsequent issues that persist because of homelessness. People hold an image of what America should look like, and homeless people are not involved in that. Such sentiments are reflected in public policy that specifically targets the resources of homeless people.

In Monday’s class we were paired into groups and given the tasks of budgeting the scenario of a single parent household with two children working minimum wage.  The information we gathered before class contributed to what methods and strategies we implied to live off of minimum wage.  Once the groups came up with the  ways they were going to live off minimum wage and scenarios, what we came up with was presented to the class.  Throughout each presentation I noticed a pattern. Each situation the single parent was involved in, to make it, they had a helping hand, resources, or a position that just happened to work itself out in their favor without having to output finances for those services. A pattern of good circumstances or viable resources that allowed for the single parent to meet the needs or have help they other wise wouldn’t. This then made me think of two things. The first being that the amount of free resources that this single parent living on minimum wage has, will determine the level of discomfort in their already uncomfortable situation. The basis of surviving and making it in this situation can heavily rely on the loopholes, strategies, ways one finds to benefit financially, which don’t require money in exchange. It’s ridiculous but very real, how much money one has to spend if they are doing it entirely on their own. No resources, no help from grandma, no help from the school providing daycare, and no money from the other parent, trying to make it.

Blog #2

After watching the documentary, “Taylor’s Campaign,” I was disturbed from the views and opinions that the people in power and the authorities had about the homeless population in that area. Even though this film took place in 1994, it worries me that the people in power still feel this way about the homeless. The people in city council were making all the decisions for the homeless. I felt that they were making it impossible for them to survive. For example, the city was telling them that they had to move away or that they could not receive food donations. I had a hard time coming up with a reason why they would take this away from them? These people in power are leaders, but are they doing what is best for the people? The horrible phrases that they used to describe the homeless were “they should not exists” and “they should be put to sleep.”

One of the core values that police departments believe in is: respect. Despite this fact, the authorities had nothing but disrespect for the homeless. I found that the authorities were quick to judge them and oppressed them. One of the most important things I have learned so far in this course is that there are a number of factors in these individuals’ lives that have caused them to be homeless, and that all people should take that into account.

I feel that a responsibility of the authorities is to protect the people, but the film shows them doing the opposite for the homeless. I am curious how the authorities view the homeless, today.

This past Wednesday in class we watched an interesting film, “Taylor’s Campaign”, about a man who was running for City Council in Santa Monica, CA advocating for the homeless. He wanted to advocate for the homeless because Santa Monica’s policies were beginning to change in a way that were degrading the homeless, plus he had spent some time being homeless before. There was a lot of things that stuck out to me in this video or that shocked me or made me sad. One of the big things that surprised me was the amount of things someone can find just by dumpster diving. At first I acted really surprised at how much Americans were throwing away in their trash, but when I really thought about it I knew I was guilty of throwing things away that I could have donated before. However, the biggest thing that struck out at me was the amount of times the homeless people said, “We are just being treated this way because of the cameras.” There were several accounts throughout the film when they were not harassed by the police because they were on film, so we were unable to see how they really act. Another time was when a man offered one of the homeless guy’s a job to help him back on his feet, but as soon as he called him it was a scam. He said that he was only doing it because he was on camera because everyone wants to look better on camera. People want to be perceived as “good” so when we are put on film we more often then not change our persona, it is something everyone is guilty of. For example, my generation is hyper focused on social media and showing the world what they are doing 24/7 – SnapChat helps us do this a lot. When we are out with friends or doing something we want to show the world we are having a great time. If I am out with friends I know I can begin filming them and I guarantee they will act like they are having a great time even if they are not. Some people, before they start filming, will tell their friends to look happy because they are going to take a SnapChat video. This is the same idea as filming the interactions with the homeless because the police and any other stranger filmed are acting in a way that they want the audience to perceive them. We are only seeing the interactions in a controlled way.  It goes from a man pretending to offer a job to make himself look good or the cops pretending to help relocate the homeless who could no longer stay where they were currently residing. Filming things is not always a true reality because a film is a record and NO ONE wants to be caught on camera looking “bad.”