Documentary: Homelessness in America

 

 

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3stVCh-kAic

When you go to a city, one of the first things you might notice are people standing on the side of the street asking for money. Although it could be viewed as "sketchy" the number of homeless people in America is surprisingly high. Many of these people are then unable to afford school, clothes and struggle to find shelter, especially during the winter. For our journalism class, I teamed up with a few of my classmates to create a documentary about this devastating problem to raise awareness.

The most important item  homeless people need during the winter are socks. Socks are the most needed item for homeless people and the least donated to them. People on the streets need socks more than anything to protect their exposed feet from frostbite, fungus, and in extreme cases, blood poisoning.

Simply donating a pair of socks, something we take for granted, will change somebody else’s life by giving them warmth and hope.

Without the necessity of socks, people could develope trench foot or even frostbite. Although many people take shelter away from the elements in abandoned houses or under bridges, they are still exposed to the cold as well as litter that surrounds these places. Think broken glass, used needled, and mold.

“One homeless man named Kiwi told me socks are more important than food. He said that he knows of many pantries and shelters where he can get food, but that there’s no way he can walk the streets of Toronto without socks.”

• Costello (Points of Light)