in search of
This afternoon I met with the volunteer writing up the feature on the homeless and tobacco usage. She's in her first semester as a journalism major at GWU. We met in front of the Street Sense office and then walked around downtown. There were few homeless people in sight. We talked with one gentleman who admitted he smoked but was not addicted. He said he could live with one of his siblings or a shelter but he liked the freedom of living outdoors. He acknowledged that he was lucky enough to have a safety net and he had some side gigs going on, such as parking cars and doing club security. And then he returns to the park near the convention center, or, if it's raining, under the eaves of one of the nearby buildings. And no taxes! He had a cell phone, and I realized afterwards that he must have an address somewhere to have a cell phone.
S. and I agreed to meet up at one of the organizations that serve free breakfasts to see if there is someone else we can talk to. I don't think we'll have much luck with photos though. People already seem sensitive about being photographed in their situation, let alone in the act of smoking.
S. and I agreed to meet up at one of the organizations that serve free breakfasts to see if there is someone else we can talk to. I don't think we'll have much luck with photos though. People already seem sensitive about being photographed in their situation, let alone in the act of smoking.