From Mark Horvath at InvisiblePeople.tv:
“Brutal and senseless.”
This is how Cotton describes homelessness. It might just be the most succinct and heart-breakingly accurate explanation I’ve heard in a long time.
Cotton is homeless and disabled. She lives in a tent in Greensboro, NC. If that’s not bad enough, she has been living this way for over 16 years….
Cotton is one of my favorite people. She tells it like it is. She’s tough as nails, but she’s surprisingly generous and thoughtful. (Remember the planters she gave me and Audrie?) She’s funny and real. She’ll make you laugh out loud one minute and bring you to tears the next. She’s smart. She keeps a stack of books by her bed, and when she finishes a good one, she offers it to you to read.
Cotton
This video was made by Mark Horvath during the Greensboro stop of the InvisiblePeople.tv Road Trip USA, sponsored locally by Quaintance-Weaver, and donors Ed Cone, Salvage America, and RecycleBills.com. Thank you, all!
I feel really sorry for this women…its sad that this kind of crap still goes on in our country…
Donte, I need to do a follow-up post. Cotton was inside all winter — first at a shelter, then in her own apartment, where she is now. We (StreetWatch) helped Cotton begin the process of getting a housing voucher, and she now has permanent housing.
“This kind of crap” still goes on in our country because there are a multitude of issues that lead people to chronic homelessness, and there are often limited or inadequate resources to address those issues. And sometimes, willingness to receive help is an issue in itself.
Our StreetWatch team strives to build friendships with chronically homeless people and do advocacy on their behalf. In this way, we’ve been able to help some people make real changes in their lives — the changes they choose, when they’re ready.