According to The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, on an annual basis, at least 2.5 to 3.5 million Americans find themselves in situations where they either stay in shelters, transitional housing, or public places that aren't designed for human habitation. Among them, approximately 4,000 men, women, and children experience homelessness in Rhode Island. The survey conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors shows that the primary reasons for homelessness are: "(1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, (4) mental illness and the lack of needed services, and (5) substance abuse and the lack of needed services.", in the order of importance. 

Above is how we perceive homelessness today. We translate complicated situations into issues that could be summed up by one word; We translate people into numbers. We distance ourselves from the real individuals and their unique stories, as we establish the common perception that people experiencing homelessness all have similar backgrounds, predicaments, and even characters - poor, alcoholic, or insane. 

Although this is a useful way to summarize homelessness from a broad and macroscopic perspective, it should be noted that it might form a stereotypical narrative, in which individuality is lost in statistics, while empathy is lost in discussions. By labeling and grouping individuals as "homeless people", we sometimes forget the fact that experiencing homelessness is often not the most important part of people's life or identity. What does a person do during the day? What are their hobbies? How are their families? Are they happy? If we look closer and talk deeper, there's always a different story covered up by stereotypes. 

Going onto the streets of Providence, I opened up with a simple "What did you have for breakfast?" and started to hear the stories of living people.

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND--JL sat on the ground by College Street in Downtown Providence, quietly watching the cars zoom by. She turned and stared at the Providence Memorial in the park across the street. On that tall monument, letters were carved into the stone: 

"Citizens who served in the World War, whose high example still summons us to love."

JL told her story of being a refugee descendant, a Brown University graduate, and a passionate social worker. Due to the broken system of the retirement office during Covid quarantine, she ended up on the street for about 6 months. “Sometimes I like living out here. I think as long as you have some kind of money, it’s okay. I like being out here is what the important thing is.” Her story was a turbulent one, but one full of hope.

Arriving in the US

At the time, JL’s aunt was serving as a nurse in the military based in the US, where she met her husband and formed a family. 

“So my Grandma took me to the US to stay with this aunt.” JL smiled as she recalled her Grandmother, “I love her too much.” When they arrived in the US, JL was 5 years old. She did not come with her mother. It was only her and her grandmother, traveling across the sea. “I don’t know what happened to my mother. There was the war and everything… I've never seen her again after coming to the US.” In JL’s memory, there was no image of what her mother looked like. “I was just a toddler. I have no idea.”

But this toddler needed a mother. JL’s aunt in the US became her mother. “You can regard her as a stepmother…but she is really my mother.” 

JL recalled a fine childhood. “It wasn’t too good but it was okay.” She described her family of eight——mother, father, and her five siblings. JL is the third child. At first, the family stayed in Georgia, where a lot of similar refugees resided. Then they moved to Illinois, and finally, to Providence, Rhode Island. 

The family was poor. All they had were the basic necessities. Originally from Spain, JL’s mom barely knew English. But the war was finally over. The peace that they longed for had come. 

Mom and Dad managed to send the kids to school, in Providence. 

Becoming a Brown Student

“I am the only one in my family who went to college,” JL told me proudly. 

Like all of her siblings, she went to Fox-Point Primary School, and then middle school and high school in Pawtucket. While most of her peers went directly to work and never came back to school, JL was about to do the same. “I worked for a few years…I didn’t know if I wanted to go to college, but some people were saying ‘Oh you should go to college because we need people like… minorities!’. And I said ‘Well, all right, I’ll go to college if you want me to go to college.’”. She laughed. 

The “people” that JL mentioned were actually from the government. They put JL on a list with other minority and low-income students and provided them with financial aid.

“They wanted some people like me, and I was selected.”

At Brown JL studied liberal arts——English Literature and Psychology. If you Google her real name, you can still see her old retired LinkedIn profile with these two majors at Brown. In the education column, there was also Harvard, where she later did her evening lessons on Management.

“It was a good education.” JL talked about Brown with appreciation, “and also nice people…great people!” She mentioned that during the cold wave in mid-February, Brown’s Page Robinson Hall had taken care of her and 9 other people experiencing homelessness. “They opened up and let us stay there overnight.” She spoke gratefully. The hall was actually open for two nights, but they only stayed for Friday, because they “didn’t feel the need” to stay there on Saturday - the temperature rose a bit, so they decided to leave. 

Being near Brown for years, JL witnessed the drastic changes at Brown. Higher buildings were built; sceneries changed; computers became prevalent everywhere…but Brown was still a place where she felt at home. 

When she heard that I am also a student at Brown, she smiled warmly, “I’m retired, so that whole life is over for me. But you just began it!”

Working for Society

After graduating from Brown, JL entered the government’s education department to help more minority students get an education. A few years later she went to a law firm in Boston as a law assistant. This job continued for 25 years straight. “I was treated very good…respectfully.” 

Approaching her sixties, she wanted to go back home. “I went back to Providence and found a job as a community worker.” Working for the community was always something JL wanted to do. Although she was paid less with a 1,200 stipend per month, it was very much sufficient for her to make a living. For 16 years, she did statistics and reports for public education and social welfare. She continued to stay in Providence, even though her parents passed away long ago, and none of her siblings remained in this home. 

“My siblings were mostly blue-collar… my brother was a salesman, the other worked for an electric company…and another brother was an artist.” She talked about how his brother took workshops and did freelancing in photography and painting, mostly doing work for advertisements. Now, she lost all connections with them. One of them was in Florida, another in California, and the rest she didn't seem to know.

Living on the Streets

She also told me the fact that “People are really nice here.”, which was completely true. During our conversation, four people walked by with greetings to JL. One of them came out of a car and gave JL a brand new pair of blue gloves, the other man gave bread and biscuits, and another girl offered cups of hot tea and coffee. 

Many of the people walking by knew the name of JL and talked to her warmly. After I ended the interview,  two students came to JL and chatted with her happily. They told me that they came here every week to visit JL. JL showed them the boba that I gave to her. We all laugh.

The Mission on Elmwood Street, a nonprofit organizaton which was officially referred to as Elmwood Housing, also provided JL and many other homeless people with clothing and occasionally with cash donations. The pink coat that JL was wearing came from them. “They are very good people.”

JL gave back to people’s kindness by doing social voluntary work during the daytime. “I go to the park (Roger Williams Park) and pick up garbage. During quarantine, we collect the masks.” She told me how she and others did masks disposal for a healthier environment in Covid. “It’s like a campaign!” The campaign was initially led by a student called Cheryl. The “team” rarely gathered to meet each other, but they all knew that they were doing good community work. 

Talking about the future, JL said that she didn't know what to expect, and didn't expect anything. “Maybe I’ll even get married. Maybe not.” She smiled. Would she continue to live on the streets? I didn't know. But I knew that she would do whatever she liked, and whatever life offered to her.

Xuanjie (Coco) Huang, a student at Brown University who majors in International and Public Affairs and pursues a career in the humanitarian and nonprofit journalism sector.

Commentary

As a student interested in the social and nonprofit sector, I wanted to know more about how marginalized individuals find a place in society and how can people offer help to them. As I walk the streets around Brown, I often see homeless people that I never got a chance to know enough about. Homeless people are usually exposed to high health risks and personal security risks. I feel the urge to dive into their life stories and provide insights about how might people become unhoused, how society plays a factor in it, and most importantly, how these people each have their own unique and unbelievable experiences that can't be summarized by labels or stereotypes. Thus, I interviewed 3 homeless people around Thayer Street and Downtown to tell their stories, along with some student social workers and volunteers who are tackling this social issue. It challenged me to keep the stories objective and external as they were personal and emotional, but it was also rewarding to see that my interviewees were very open to me and brave to show their vulnerability while telling personal stories. They need a voice in society, and their voices are worth hearing.

Source list:

Interview with JL, February 9th, 2023

Interview with JL, February 12th, 2023

Interview with JL, February 13th, 2023

https://www.crossroadsri.org/housing-services/strategy-solutions/insights-facts-figures

https://www.britannica.com/event/Spanish-Civil-War

https://www.capeverde.com/islands/brava/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine_in_Cape_Verde#:~:text=Two%20of%20Cape%20Verde%27s%20worst,lost%2065%25%20of%20its%20population.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3766254/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/briefing/homelessness-america-housing-crisis.html

https://homelesslaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Homeless_Stats_Fact_Sheet.pdf