The documentary crew

Yesterday, Vinci and Harold arrived from New York to work on their documentary about the homeless of New Orleans, and Alison and I brought them around the city to scope things out. After discussing the situation in detail over some coffee, we all headed to the I-10 overpass so they could get some stories and video of the inhabitants. Dale, being a very talkative individual, gave a detailed description of his experiences being homeless. While they were taping him, I had the opportunity to chat with some other folks hanging around.

(Oh... and a side note, I mentioned bringing a homeless individual to the ER, last week... well, Dale told me that he has been in the hospital for the past few days, and no one has really heard from him... hopefully, he will recover soon)

One old man, Henry, came up to talk to me. He was studying to be an anesthesiologist at one point in his life, but blames his wife for making him change his plans and going to work in the oil fields for 15 years, instead. I did not get a story as to what ROLE his wife played in this change of heart, but he claims that this decision is what lead to his current state of homelessness. In order to prove that he had some medical education, he started naming various cardiac diseases along with descriptions of each disease, anatomical terms, etc... until I was convinced that he had gone to school... and I have to say that I AM convinced... he may know more about medicine than I do, actually. Apart from his medical education, he can draw, write (he plans on writing three books about his experience being homeless), and paint. He is from Baton Rouge and arrived in New Orleans on Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). At the moment, he supports himself by taking odd jobs cleaning the New Orleans Arena and Superdome, as well as picking up soft drink cans. He told me that he has the option to leave the bridge now (must have met some kind of fortunate event, like a home from unity), but elected to stay for a little while and help his new found friends under the bridge. He believes that the best way he can help is by writing those books, and looks forward to getting started on them.

We continued getting film and talked to Steve, Homeless Pride's Vice President. He had been given a house by Unity, but had issues with his landowner. Eventually the landowner kicked him out, and he is now back under the bridge. He keeps a tight ship, watching out for everyone who comes through. He tries to keep crack dealers and hustling away from the tents around him, and I even saw him chase one individual away while we were there, yesterday. He receives donations such as soaps, wipes, paper towels, and distributes them to the folks around him. Alison and I talked to Steve for a while, and he informed us that there are a couple of other large homeless settlements. One is at "The Wall" where Elysian Fields meets the river, and at Audubon Park near the river (behind the Zoo). I was intrigued by this, and am planning to check out these locations. Of course, there are also MANY homeless staying in the hundreds (don't quote this number) of still-abandoned houses in the city.

As I was passing out more health care flyers, I met another man with some medical education. When I mentioned that I was a medical student, a man with no teeth and a half paralyzed face started spouting out the names of all the cranial bones to me. I was quite impressed. It seems that the homeless community has more of an educational background than many people think. I also met a familiar homeless individual, Morocca... he usually hangs out on the River-side of the encampment with a plush mickey mouse.... which sounds crazy.. but this man is actually NOT crazy... just extremely humerous. Everytime I head out there, he greets me with the mickey mouse and asks me where Toto is or if I have ruby slippers on (being that my name is Dorothy, I am quite used to this). Yesterday, he didn't have the mickey mouse, and with a pout, told me that someone stole it.

After we saw the I-10 overpass, we brought Vinci and Henry to the 9th Ward. They got a lot of video and pictures as we stopped at the breach site, and even ventured into an old gutted-out church. We also stopped at the Holy Cross Community, so they could see a recovering neighborhood. For those of you in New Orleans, you have to check out what Americorps did with the levee area near Holy Cross. There is a path along the water, complete with park benches... it's quite pretty.

Needless to say, it was a BUSY day.

I am working on getting a research project underway. I am not sure what the research will encompass, yet... as I have to talk to some people who are already involved with the homeless, and look at past research articles from other cities in order to determine which information is important, and what I should pursue. I feel that with actual, published data, the City and the local organizations can make better decisions and intervention plans regarding the homeless. Hopefully, I am not being OVERLY idealistic.