Tackling Homelessness – “Lennon”

Homelessness is a growing societal problem and current approaches to addressing it have largely failed. I was privileged to have attended the Red Carpet Premiere of a short independent film, titled “Lennon”, on Thursday December 9 at the Art Theatre Long Beach tackling this very issue.

“Lennon” is the brainchild of Gio Ferraro who wrote, produced and starred in the film. She was ably assisted by her partner and co-star, Samantha Parks, and roughly 20 friends from the film industry who graciously worked for free. While the film was shot on a shoestring budget it’s slick and very well edited, cramming a surprising amount of content in its half hour runtime.

“Lennon” packs a powerful message, which is the importance of compassion. While it was filmed in Long Beach, it could’ve been set anywhere, as homelessness is ubiquitous across the USA.

I should add that Gio also actively works with the homeless doing advocacy work.

Sam and Gio, stars of “Lennon”

Homelessness

According to The National Coalition for the Homeless, homelessness is a product of poverty:

“Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessities. Often it is housing, which absorbs a high proportion of income that must be dropped. If you are poor, you are essentially an illness, an accident, or a paycheck away from living on the streets.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the national poverty rate in 2016 was 12.7%. There were 40.6 million people in poverty.”

While the poverty rate has been slowly declining since 2014, a couple of factors account for continuing poverty – lack of employment opportunities and a decline in available public assistance.

Other major factors, which can contribute to homelessness, include a lack of affordable health care, domestic violence, mental illness and addiction.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Institute for Human Rights Blog states:

“According to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, an estimated 553,000 people experienced homelessness on a single 2018 night. In terms of homelessness by state, California ranked highest with a raw amount of 129,000 people and North Dakota ranked the lowest in raw count with 542 homeless people through a point-in-time count.”

This shows what a huge issue homelessness is for us in California.

Gio Ferraro. Photo credit – Jose Cordon

Compassion

I previously mentioned that “Lennon” stresses the importance of compassion. But what exactly is compassion? Mind Valley uploaded a blog, What Is Compassion? Looking Beyond Yourself For A Better World which stated that:

“Compassion goes beyond feelings of sympathy and empathy and puts them into action.  …  True compassion goes beyond the understanding of another person’s suffering. Compassionate people feel compelled to do something to help or relieve the suffering they are confronted with.

The word compassion literally means to ‘suffer together’ or ‘co-suffering.’

Well, when you feel compassion for those around you, you can’t stand by and watch someone else suffering. You are motivated to take action to stop the pain or help out.”

It’s not enough to feel sorry for the homeless, we all have to be prepared to roll our sleeves up and do something. This “something” will vary from person to person. For some it’ll be to engage in advocacy work while for others it’ll be gifting a cup of coffee or an item of warm clothing, hopefully with a few kind words. Then there are those individuals, like Gio, who’ll craft a short film or a documentary drawing much attention to the issue. The point is, that if everyone did “something” we’d be much closer to addressing the issue than we are now.

Interconnectedness

Interconnectedness has been suggested as a solution to the environmental crisis, but it’s also a potential solution to the homelessness crisis. Interconnectedness: an Overlooked Solution to the Environmental Crisis states:

“Interconnectedness is the idea that all things are connected and have an impact on each other. We mean several things by this:

1. Humanity is connected to all life.
2. Humans are connected to the Earth. We are not separate from the Earth and the Earth is not outside of ourselves.
3. What we do has consequences to all.
4. What we do to others, we do to ourselves. What we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves.
5. We are not individuals living separate lives; rather, we are interdependent on each other and all come from the same source of life.
6. Environmental sustainability, spiritual fulfillment, and social justice are not three separate issues, but rather interrelated facets of the same whole.”

This is the “spiritual” reason for why we should be helping the homeless. Apart from our connection to all of nature, we are connected to each other. If one person suffers, then all of us suffer. By assisting others, we’re making the world a better for all of us. Viewing ourselves as separate from others or seeing others as less than does not serve humanity as a whole.

All in all, I enjoyed “Lennon” – it delivered on its aim to draw attention to homelessness. The storyline was credible and the acting competent. The protagonists were likeable and the chemistry between them felt authentic. For a first movie, it was impressive and I look forward to seeing Gio’s future projects.

Tony Mierzwicki

Author of Hellenismos: Practicing Greek Polytheism Today and Graeco-Egyptian Magick: Everyday Empowerment.