Name: Ava

Social Justice Group: 2018-2019, Homelessness & Education

Date of Fieldwork: December 18, 2018

Name of Organization:

Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Orayne Williams

Type of Fieldwork: Interview

What I did:

We met Orayne Williams who was abandoned by his mother when he was 14 and was kicked out of his house. He ended up living in a homeless shelter alone and going to high school and then later went to college and started a program to help kids who experienced similar things that he did and helps them get back in school. We toured him around the school and then brought him to LPQ across the street for an interview.

What I learned:

He gave us so much information and told us a lot about his story and how its different than other peoples stories. The one piece of information I thought was very important was when he said that being homeless is an experience. Its not a group and its not how you identify. Its something that you experience and its a story. So instead of saying you are homeless or you were homeless you say you are experiencing homelessness or you experienced homelessness. He said that when people used to ask him “are you homeless?” he hated that question and he would correct people and how they said it.

What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:

I learned that its a lot harder to get into a homeless shelter than just going there and saying you have no place to live. They have to interview you and contact every possible relative and ask if they can live with you too. Also homeless shelter have very strict rules like the time you go to bed and the time you come back. Orayne was working on changing those rules and regulations for when you are or are trying to get into a homeless shelter, so its available and the best choice for people experiencing homelessness.