I approached this project as a pitch idea of “Homeless in Columbia,” thinking that it would be quite simple to pinpoint the individuals downtown who obviously were without a home. As I followed through with this pitch, my story wrote itself, but with a complete different direction. Let’s start at the beginning. Homelessness is often perceived with negative connotations, ones that we are socially taught. We are aware that living in the streets is not an ideal situation, and we associate the people who do as maybe lesser than us. I had these preconceived ideas as I began my project. As I approached my first subject of interest, I instantly was surprised. I was surprised because I wasn’t talking to who I would expect, I was talking to a man who knew so much about the world, who brightened my day and opened up to me in ways I would have never expected. What started off as a project soon became a journey. I was talking to people who were showing me a world without walls, a world in which so little can mean so much. Honestly, it was a story of life, of how precious it is and how amazing the opportunities each one of us have are. I learned through each person I met that judging someone because of where they are in life is simply ridiculous, when you can never truly know where they have been. The beauty of humanity is that each of us has a story, we each have a journey that we are destined to go on, to create a path in which only we have the power to follow. What we do in our lives is not measured by our lows, in fact, the power we have to recover from these times is what makes our stories even more endearing. Notice how I say we, I do this because I refuse to allow myself to be seemingly better than the people in which I encountered. I learned a lot throughout this project, a lot about humanity and about what it means to treat others with the respect they deserve. Homelessness is not a disease, it is an unfortunate situation that incredible people unfairly find themselves in.

Homelessness has been a constant, reoccurring issue in Columbia, as it seems to be in many college towns. Many teens find themselves on the streets with no place to go and no where to turn. In Columbia, downtown is a major attraction, but is also home to many of those who have nowhere else to go. Going on this journey really allowed me to open my heart. We are blessed with so much in such an incredible town. It is easy to forget those who aren’t as fortunate and humanizes the people we far too often just walk past. Change is needed, and if we are the ones able to initiate it, then we must take our place to do so. We all call this place home. Whether we are here for school, or have lived here for years, in one way or another we have found our hearts in Columbia. We get to go home every night to food and endless privileges that so often we take for granted. Putting a spotlight on those less fortunate will hopefully open the eyes to a community forgotten, to people who deserve our time of day.