Orlando Homeless

Meet Shawn J. Smith, one of Orlando’s homeless. I met Shawn while shooting sunrise photos in Downtown Orlando with a friend. We witnessed some people being ejected from a spot underneath an I-4 overpass. Shawn and his friend had come up to see if the coast was clear; they had to leave all of their possessions, including their food, behind. Shawn says that police often harass them and even threaten them with tasers if they don’t move fast enough.

My knowledge on the subject of The City of Orlando vs. The Homeless Population is limited, but I do know that there are no solutions on the horizon. Now that Downtown Orlando is being converted to an urban hotspot, the city seems to have decided to move all of the undesirables as far away from the high-rent areas as possible. The result is an absurd set of laws which have resulted in the arrest of persons attempting to feed the homeless. Yes, you read that correctly: in a city in the United States someone was arrested for feeding fellow citizens. In a country waging war in distant lands in an effort to spread democrazy (what I call it) and freedom, sharing food has become a crime.

I’m sure many people would make a variety of comments about most of the homeless being drunks, drug addicts and criminals. Shawn himself said that the group of people he was in were just people trying to make their way, hoping to get a new start. He’s made some mistakes and after a 7-day jail term he got out to find that he had been evicted from his home. His companion is unable to get a proper ID because she doesn’t have an address, a catch-22 I’m sure many of these folks experience.

My goal isn’t to judge or figure out why these individuals have made the choices which have led to their situation. It’s simply to bring to light the fact that it’s currently cold at night in this city, that these people have no place to go and when they find a spot, the local police kick them out using a variety of reasons. Where can they go, who can they turn to? Some local churches have helped, but as Shawn told me, some churches seem to do their good deed as a publicity opportunity in front of the cameras and then drive off in their expensive cars to their expensive homes feeling good about themselves.

In a city spending $430,000,000 on a new arena, when a perfectly good arena exists, one would think some thought would be put into assisting those in need of help. In a city with empty new condominiums towering above, serving as monuments of failure and greed, one would imagine they could be opened up, just for the winter, so the city’s homeless would have a warm place to stay.

While you’re at home enjoying whatever it is you enjoy during whatever holiday you do or don’t celebrate, remember that although most of us are fortunate, recognizing that fact won’t put food on anyone’s table to provide warmth to those who need it. We need to become aware of our surroundings, of those around us who need a hand and make the effort to extend that hand.

I’m attempting to collect funds to purchase blankets. If you’re interested in donating, please contact me. The simplest way would be to send funds via PayPal.

A smaller sub-group leaving their spot under the I-4 overpass.

Orlando PD packing up their tasers

Shawn pointing to the new arena being built.