Homelessness in the Big Easy
61- year-old Kemmy Lewis shares his share his experience of transitioning from shelter to shelter, living on the street and eventually finding a home at the Volunteers of America (VOA) Single Room Occupancy (SRO)
program on Canal St. saying, “ I’ve been in New Orleans all my life I was born here, hopefully I’ll die here…but it’s because of people like Miss Denise (Denise Young, VOA SRO property manager, not pictured) that I ain’t dead yet… and it won’t be today. This is my home”
Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
36 – year old Chicago Native, Raven Shirrin, breaks up treats for her dog Lil buddy, while she waits for her husband JT (not pictured) to return from panhandling across the street from the Claiborne Expressway late
Wednesday afternoon, or work as she calls it. “We started out to spread awareness on homelessness. We started out in Albany, Ga, and were supposed to finish in California. When we got to New Orleans, it was like nothing we’d ever seen. We had $60 bucks to our name… I got sick, and then we were stuck…. that was four years ago. This is our lives now.”
Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
73-year old New Orleans native, David Oats’ watches the cars pass as he finishes his lunch under the Claiborne expressway saying “It’s all about what works you. I got family and things here, but I don’t know. All I know is when I was ready I got up and I found work and I’m going from there. I come here to sleep, cause it reminds me, and I’m not done yet. I still have some work to do until I can sleep in my new place.”Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
36 – year old Chicago Native, Raven Shirrin, breaks up treats for her dog Lil buddy, while she waits for her husband JT (not pictured) to return from panhandling across the street from the Claiborne Expressway late
Wednesday afternoon, or work as she calls it. “We started out to spread awareness on homelessness. We started
out in Albany, Ga, and were supposed to finish in California. When we got to New Orleans, it was like nothing
we’d ever seen. We had $60 bucks to our name… I got sick, and then we were stuck…. that was four years ago.
This is our lives now.”
Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
52 year- old new Orleans native Theron Reese sits on a set of stairs on Bourbon St., or his favorite place in all of New Orleans to people watch as he calls it, and shares his latest victory in landing a new job. “I don’t believe
in hope. Those are just words. I believe in action….. You know, everyone’s journey to these steps aren’t the same, but I’m proof that it don’t last always.”
Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
73-year old New Orleans native, David Oats’ watches the cars pass as he finishes his lunch under the Claiborne expressway saying “It’s all about what works you. I got family and things here, but I don’t know. All I know is when I was ready I got up and I found work and I’m going from there. I come here to sleep, cause it reminds me, and I’m not done yet. I still have some work to do until I can sleep in my new place.”Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
Lynale Taylor, shows the swelling in his hands that’ll be the reason he heads to the emergency room after he’s able to get enough money to get there, saying “My hands have been messed up for a while.. they’ll probably just give me some antibiotics or pain medicine again but I’m going cause they give me some extra food and juice sometimes too.”
Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
52 year- old new Orleans native Theron Reese sits on a set of stairs on Bourbon St., or his favorite place in all of New Orleans to people watch as he calls it, and shares his latest victory in landing a new job. “I don’t believe
in hope. Those are just words. I believe in action….. You know, everyone’s journey to these steps aren’t the same, but I’m proof that it don’t last always.”
Theron Reese (left) sits with friend and fellow New Orleans native Lil Rocky (right) on Bourbon St. in New Orleans as they share their experiences in with homelessness. “I only been out here a couple weeks, so it ain’t that bad,” Lil Rocky said.
Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
48-year-old New Orleans Native, Lynale Taylor, panhandles under the Claiborne Expressway, late Wednesday afternoon as he works to raise money for he and his girlfriend (not pictured) to finally get to Minnesota so that they can see their son. Although, this is his first time being homeless in 5 years Lynale smiles in confidence and continuously tells himself that “It’s not good right now, but it’s not that bad right now and I don’t believe it’s going to be too much longer.”
Katherine C. Gilyard/ NABJ Monitor
Volunteers of America (VOA) social worker and case manager (Mike Bean) and David Oats (bottom) discuss resources and options for finding furniture and things that as Oats says, “make a home a home.” “I finally got a place worth living in. I did that on my own…now I just have to find furniture and things to put in it…” Oats says in response when the case manager asks him, “Why are you still out here?”.
66- year old Oscar Alvarado, looks away to one of the members of the camp that have taken refuge under the Claiborne Expressway, as he tells them that one of the nearby shelters has stopped taking people for the day.
“Well now three days…”, Oscar says, in reference to the time he’s spent under the expressway. When a VOA caseworker, not pictured), comes around to tell members of the expressway camp that they’ll be handing out food soon Oscar, a Guatemalan native who came here to work as an electrician in 2006, stands up to get in line, and says “ I want to go home, back to my country. I want to be with my family. But I’m hurt and I can’t work, so I’m here.”