Mark was my uncle, my father’s brother. He was the most family-oriented member of my extended family. He remembered every birthday. The year before he died at the age of 50, he gave me an eagle bandana for my birthday. A very thoughtful gift for someone who loved his country, and whose last name means “eagle” in German.
Mark also suffered from schizophrenia, and lived on-and-off the streets for 30 years.
In November 2013, for the first time since he had passed away, I visited his gravesite in Santa Cruz. Though it means little to Mark now, my dad and his other brother, my uncle David, refused to have his memory forgotten, and chipped in for a proper plot of ground to call his own. As poignant as this was for me, I wondered if there was anything I could do for the people still living on the streets, whose lives we forget or ignore each day.
Like Mark, there are many people on the streets who suffer from mental illness, or drug addictions, or severe disabilities. Many people who have problems, just like the rest of us. Some are just down on their luck: divorced, in debt, or in bad health. They’ve made mistakes, took chances that just didn’t work out. Many homeless people have families and friends who love them, and miss them, just like the rest of us.
I decided to do something about it.
I started Miracle Messages to increase awareness of what it’s like to live on the streets, from the first-hand perspective of those who do; to make an immediate and tangible impact in the lives of our homeless neighbors; to use technology to help the homeless be seen as complete and human.
Homeless GoPro was the first version, which equipped homeless volunteers with GoPro cameras. This project started with empathy, and began to evolve into Miracle Messages when I heard this statement from one homeless person: “I never realized I was homeless when I lost my housing, only when I lost my family and friends who supported me.”
The reasons for homelessness are many and can be a result of things such as eviction, sickness/health expenses, addiction, domestic violence, job loss, mental illness, to name a few. It is incredibly easy for someone who is experiencing homelessness to lose…
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