"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded"- Maya Angelou

                             

This time last year I was assigned to a school project and while trying to do some research and produce a great piece, I found that the end result was a greater lesson and jolt of awakening energy. 

I find myself today revisiting those thoughts, emotions and environment to remember not to lose focus on why I chose this field. 

Do we as professional journalists, or citizens, or even those who dream that one day we too could be the Barbara Walters or the Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein gain more personally by doing these stories for our public or does the public benefit from the exposure to issues that matter?

...we were two wild eyed young females walking along the streets of downtown Los Angeles on a Sunday simply "looking for our stories"...

Maybe it was naivete, or passion..I'd certainly like to think it was a little bit of both. 

Skid Row has a stigma attached to it doesn't it? While many parents would warn their children to not go into the "bad" parts of town, or ignore the homeless people asking for money, or the irrational homeless people who scream obscenities because they are so unhappy, we often forget that they too were "fully functioning adults" that probably worked in the next cubicle next to us at one time or another. And we forget that they too have stories, heartbreaking and unbearable sometimes, but stories nonetheless that doesn't make them any less human than we are. These individuals probably are more "human" than you and I could ever be. They have felt emotions at their highest peak and success, and have also felt the emotions of gut-wrenching pain at their lowest moments in their lives. 

Not everyone is born into homelessness nor do they deserve it. Most deserve a second chance. 

There are two people we met on our journey of many that really touched me. And I often think about where they might be today. 

Tawn:

We almost didn't even see her crouched down low sitting beside her cart full of her belongings wearing a plain dark grey sweater and sweatpants with a brightly colored yellow beanie in the hot day of LA. She was probably the first friendliest face we had come across while walking up and down skid row that day. We introduced ourselves as journalism students looking to talk to people and their story of how they arrived here. She was more than willing to share her hurt and fears of being in a long relationship with a man who abused her both physically and mentally for years. She lost her children to social services and has not seen them. She continues her search to find her children in hopes of reuniting with them someday. 

Not only was her story familiar to the both of us who had spoken to many that day about losing their children because of domestic violence, her spirit was high and she was hopeful. She, like any woman who like to look her best starts to light up when she points out her necklaces she had found. Her amazing outlook on life, with such horrific moments was truly earth shattering to hear. Here she was talking about how that even in the depths of homelessness and not knowing where she would get her next meal, or if she would get in line for the shelter soon enough to be able to make it in the allowed capacity, her most prized possessions....her necklaces... Anyone can see that these items were plain simple and probably belonged to a young girl at some point..but for Tawn, it was her precious "pearls". And they mattered to her. We quickly realized that when a human being is stripped away from everything they have or own, you soon treasure the little you do have more than anything in the world. She didn't know if she would have enough change to go to the laundry mat to wash her clothes that evening, but for all our intent and purposes while taping Tawn with our handheld cameras, she wanted to makes sure she sparkled and looked her best for our audience. Because for one day, for just a  few hours, she knew her story mattered to us and our class of 30. Could anyone really fault her for wanting to look her best?

Terry Wilkinson is a special man...

we ran into him at Venice beach. He seemed like a lonesome man who sat next to the rowdy kids playing their music obnoxiously loud and who were throwing unfinished bottles of soda towards him. He sat mostly to himself and did everything humanly possible to revert back inside his invisible shell. After walking by 4 or 5 times and unsuccessfully finding anyone willing to talk to us on camera, we decided to walk up and say hello. Shy, timid, scared, and the years of worry and torture and unhappiness was apparent in his weathered and aged face. He was a man, successful at one time, and one of the first architects who helped build six flags magic mountain. He had a horrific childhood growing up being sexually abused by his father and quickly became an outcast from the rest of his family. Terry was a witness to a family murder, and was left jobless once the project was done and losing his money to a woman to robbed him of his dignity and his heart. While speaking with this man who has nothing to show for his life besides old photos of once a very handsome and charming man, Terry now sits in Venice beach hoping he will not get ticketed or harassed to leave. And when he does, he is prepared to start walking in an unknown direction where he can find temporary residence on the streets of some other town. Of the many things we learned about him that day, one thing stuck out to me and moved me to tears and broke my heart endlessly. He said he doesn't wish that he can be sober...he doesn't wish that he had a beautiful mansion he can call home, he doesn't wish that he can find his family and reunite with them all again and be happy. his one simple wish....
.....was that he be treated as a human being...he stays to himself most of the time, but is treated worse than a stray dog..his only wish is that people would acknowledge that he too is man and at one time had a great career...a man who's had some setbacks and who found himself homeless..nevertheless, a man. 

everyone has a story...every homeless person has a story they'd like to share if you gave them the time. Both Terry and Tawn have deeply impacted my life and have made impressionable moments in my heart...It's not that hard to find it in yourself to care for someone, even for a stranger. You'd be surprised how long their shared stories last with you.