homeless for a week<\/a> in early March in order to raise more awareness about homelessness. Ramelize left behind his apartment in Queens and lived on the streets of Manhattan for a full week, without going home. To feed himself, Ramelize took little cash with him in order to buy a $1 bagel or an apple pie from McDonald\u2019s. He also brought along a toothbrush and his phone. Friends arranged to give him a meal every night that was vegetarian and less than $5, to support his efforts.<\/p>\nRamelize explained why he went homeless for a week: \u201cThe reason I did this project is because I felt like I wanted to inspire people, to make their own sacrifices. I saw how people were numb to what\u2019s happening \u2013 there are so many misconceptions out there. A lot of people feel like it can\u2019t happen to them, and they feel like homeless people are lazy or mentally ill. Homelessness can happen to anyone. I know so many people that just live paycheck to paycheck, and all it takes is for you to lose your job. I just wish that people were more compassionate about the people who are homeless, then they would do more, donate more, volunteer, whatever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the seven nights Ramelize spent on the streets, he never knew where he was going to end up sleeping. Two nights were spent sleeping on the train, which Ramelize said was the best sleep he got throughout the whole week. Ramelize was denied entry to a shelter for not being actually homeless, and then couldn\u2019t find a suitable shelter, resulting in him not sleeping for a night during his homeless week. \u201cIt was all so spontaneous, I usually just ended up going from one place to the next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramelize spent much of his week in Union Square, handing out fliers that described his efforts. \u201cI printed out about a 1000 fliers, to try to get the word out about what I\u2019m doing, and why people should pay attention to this problem.\u201d Many of those who took his fliers often came back to Ramelize and asked him questions about his project, with a few later going to his website and donating to the Coalition for the Homeless. During the week, handing out fliers was the only thing that Ramelize had to do. \u201cIt had been going by extremely slowly, with absolutely nothing to do, nowhere to go, so I handed out fliers like it was a job, and it made the time go by a little faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramelize also wanted to interview homeless people for his website, but often times his subjects did not want to be on camera. He thus changed his focus to handing out as many fliers as possible in order to raise more awareness while he was homeless. <\/p>\n
Before heading out on his mission, Ramelize felt scared and anxious. \u201cI was more nervous than anything else. What if I do all this work and it doesn\u2019t make a difference and nobody cares? All those things were going through my head.\u201d Ramelize\u2019s goal is to raise $5,000 for the Coalition for the Homeless. He has so far raised $3,500, and will continue to make efforts to reach his goal until May 1st.<\/p>\n
He addressed those who criticized his methods for raising awareness about homelessness: \u201cI know a lot of people were talking about how what I\u2019m doing is mocking the homeless. I really want people to know that my intention is not to mock the homeless. I\u2019m fully aware that being homeless for a week can never compare to being homeless for months and years. What I\u2019m trying to do is make a sacrifice for myself so I can bring awareness about homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n
After spending a week homeless on the streets, Ramelize was very happy to go home and shower and rest. His website features previous stories and interviews of homeless people or those who have been homeless, along with videos of his experiences. \u201cI also want people to know that this is not a project that I\u2019m doing to cure homelessness either. This is not about having all the answers to homelessness solved. I\u2019m an artist, I\u2019m not someone involved in economics or something. I didn\u2019t just want to say \u2018just donate\u2019, I wanted to make a sacrifice so that people would be inspired to donate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramelize plans to be homeless again for a week next year.<\/p>\n
Hena Ashraf is a filmmaker with interests in photography, writing, and new media. She founded the Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival in 2008, and is a graduate from the University of Michigan with concentrations in Film & Video Studies, and Political Science. Ashraf is an advocate for the making and use of independent media. She can be reached at hena @ a2palestinefilmfest.org.
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