Young and Homeless--NY Times
Young and Homeless
Craig Blankenhorn for The New York Times
Missy Race, 22, and her
10-month-old son, David Martinez, are living in transitional housing.
Because she is unable to afford daycare, it’s difficult for her to go on
job interviews: “If I bring David with me, I know I won’t get the job
because it’s unprofessional.”
By CRAIG BLANKENHORN
Published: August 31, 2012
SADLY for the children across America who are homeless today, neither
presidential campaign is expected to pay much attention to them, with
big policy speeches or new ideas about improving their situation.
Multimedia
There are 1.6 million homeless children in the United States. I want to
be the witness to this, to provide evidence of their bleak condition. I
want to speak for the victimized children of our country who aren’t even
fully cognizant of their own poverty. Infants, young children and
teenagers are living on the streets, in hotel rooms and in their
parents’ cars, forsaken by bad luck. It is my hope that these
photographs will show this problem to those who are unaware or have done
their best to ignore this issue.
The families who were willing to share their stories made this project
possible. I have photographed them in cities around the country,
including Janesville and Beloit, Wis., Kissimmee, Fla., and in Essex
County, N.J.
Recently, I spent a week with homeless families in Tampa, Fla., site of
the Republican convention. The common refrain of the parents was this:
“It’s the kids — they don’t deserve this.”
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