Talk Is Cheap, Human Connections Are Real

Published November 21, 2008 @ 10:41AM PT

In the spring of 1987 I had just moved to Los Angeles and landed a job as a nursing home cook near South Central. About two weeks into the new gig, my junker Toyota died and I was introduced to Metropolitan Transit Authority (more commonly referred to as "the bus"). From my home in Hollywood, the bus ride took a few hours. I'll never forget that first bus experience. An older homeless man got on the bus with a large white bucket. As he started to walk towards the back of the bus people quickly moved to the aisle seat, or cover the empty seat with a bag or coat so the homeless man could not sit next to them.

Since I was green to inner-city life, I did nothing. The homeless man with his large white bucket sat down right next to me. As my luck would have it that day, it turned out his bucket was filled with dead fish. I don't know what smelled worse, the homeless man or the bucket of dead fish. It was an absolutely horrible experience and I refused to ride MTA ever again. That is, until I became that man! I'll never forget the first time I had to ride the bus as a homeless person. As I walked to the back all of a sudden all the empty seats became occupied.

No one sets out to be homeless; "recycling engineer" will never be a popular career fair choice. But homelessness can happen to anyone. Most of us are only one crisis away from living on the streets. CNN reported that 25% of employers plan to have layoffs over the next 12 months. Right now, with the economy in the crapper, more and more people are living in their cars or calling a cardboard box home-sweet-home. You may always have a roof over your head, but poverty and homelessness will directly effect you in the very near future.

I am so very honored that Shannon and Change.org are allowing me this opportunity to share my thoughts on the issues of poverty and homelessness. Every week I'm going to bring to you a new story told to you by a real person living on the streets. Real stories by real people- raw, unedited, and uncensored.

Most people ignore the homeless mainly because they simply do not understand. Well, together we are going to change that. This is not a passive blog. Nothing is going to change unless we take action. It does not have to be anything major, simply forwarding someone a link to this post or continuing the conversation of poverty and homelessness is an action (a very good action!). Cleaning out the GOOD STUFF from your closet and donating to the local shelter is another. Or donating a car-load of canned goods to your local food pantry.

Talk is cheap. We can write and read blogs all day but unless we actually DO something - we will see no change! My hope is that these true stories will challenge and inspire you to make a real connection with the homeless community, and by doing so together we can take action and make a real lasting difference.

No one should have to sleep on the streets - no one!

Share this Post

Street Stories: Meet Willy

Comments (7)

Welcome Mark, we're looking forward to your dispatches.

Posted by Joshua Levy on 11/21/2008 @ 10:58AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
Reply to thread
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Joshua
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Great post, Mark! So happy to see you here. I can't think of anyone better to be writing about this issue.

Posted by Katya Andresen on 11/21/2008 @ 11:56AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Katya
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
I'm with Joshua, I'll be looking forward to your stories Mark. I personally see how hard the lives of homeless people are. I help serving meals to poor and homeless people at a church on Sundays, and it's heartbreaking to see that most people haven't eaten in 1 or 2 days.

Posted by Daniela Nunes on 11/21/2008 @ 04:42PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Daniela
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Mark ... so glad to know you. Challenged by your heart.

Posted by Dan Cho on 11/21/2008 @ 10:24PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Dan
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Well as they say thier will be more to the streets real soon with people loosing thier jobs left and right. I am from Iowa where we do a a homeless shelter here which has changed hands recently due to the people who ran the place mis appropriated the money they was given to help fight the issue of homelessness

Posted by john mcclure on 11/22/2008 @ 09:03AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by john
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Thanks Joshua, glad to be here!

Katya, you are too kind. Thank you so very much for believing in me. You’re amazing!

Daniela, thanks for the kind words and for taking action. What many people don't realize is how powerful volunteering at a shelter or church can be. No matter how bad your day is, go help someone less fortunate than you and it will get better – guaranteed

Dan, thanks for the kind words. I am also very glad to know you.

John, sorry to hear about the drama at the shelter. Not all nonprofits do good, but even bad situations can help people. My first homeless shelter was a fraud, it eventually was shut down by the FBI, yet while I was there I learned life skills that help me stay sober today. Always do good even when others don’t!

Posted by Mark Horvath on 11/24/2008 @ 08:32AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Mark
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Unemployment is increasing and this is a very important issue... I feel inspired and look forward to other stories, posts and will keep taking action

Posted by Leticia Jauregui on 12/03/2008 @ 02:22PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Leticia
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Sixteen years ago, Mark Horvath was homeless on the streets of Hollywood. Today, he works in marketing/communications and is an activist for the homeless. He vlogs at invisiblepeople.tv and blogs at hardlynormal.com.