From Skid Row to a New Beginning

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-03-11 20:58:00 UTC
Topics:

Moving into a homeless shelter is an emotional experience. On one hand, there's the relief. After so much uncertainty, there's a door with a lock, a bed to call your own. At the same time, moving into a shelter requires swallowing a lot of pride. Suddenly, you're in someone else's house and must follow their rules. And it's tough not to reflect on the difficult journey that led to homelessness in the first place.

This video, from Union Rescue Mission, really captures this range of emotions.  It's in the subtle details: the little boy clinging to his mother's leg, the exhausted look in Beatriz's eyes, the all-too-familiar carrying of their belongings.

Take four minutes to check out this video from Union Rescue Mission:

Beatriz | Stories from Skid Row from Union Rescue Mission on Vimeo.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Home Sweet Motel Room
NEXT STORY:
Sallie Mae Blinks!

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.