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Joy

A group gave 105 homeless people disposable cameras. These are the photos they took.

See life through someone else's eyes 👀

Photo by Jackie Cook/MyLondon Photography Contest.

Many locks of bright, pink hair peek around the corner of the stairwell.

This article originally appeared on 08.17.16

A group of 105 homeless people gathered at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Each of them was given a disposable camera and told to take pictures that represent "my London."

The photos were entered in an annual contest run by London-based nonprofit Cafe Art, which gives homeless artists the chance to have their work displayed around the city and, for some of the photographers who participate in the yearly challenge, in a print calendar.

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Joy

Liquor store employee caught on video giving prized Jordans to a man wearing boxes on his feet

'I see his feet and I just automatically took my shoes off.'

via Karl-Heinz Kasper/Flickr

A homeless man who has massive holes in his shoes.

People are praising Ta Leia Thomas for being the perfect example of someone who would give you the shirt off their back. Thomas, known by her friends as “Ace,” was working at the Brooklyn Center Liquor Store just outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area when she saw something that’s all too familiar in America these days, a homeless person digging through a trash can.

“He put on two makeshift boxes on his feet," Thomas told Kare11. "I was mid-transaction and I was like, 'hold up, let me go outside and talk to him.'"

"I said, 'What size you wear?' and he said 10 or 10½," Thomas recalled. "I just looked around, grabbed my shoes, unlaced them and gave them to him right at the door." The shoes she gave the man were more than just run-of-the-mill sneakers, they were her purple retro Nike Air Jordans.

Thomas’ shoes were purple as a tribute to her favorite football team, the Minnesota Vikings.

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homelessness

Joy

A new picture book, 'Pigeon & Cat,' teaches readers young and old about the power of compassion

“I want it to be like a unifying book, you know? Just to remind us all that we're all in this together,” author Edward Hemingway said.

Little, Brown and Company/Edward Hemingway

Edward Hemingway talks about his new picture book, "Pigeon & Cat."

I’m going to say it right now: I think picture books get a bad rap. They’re written off as silly books for little ones, but there are a lot of picture books out there that have strong messages and deal with real issues. A new picture book, “Pigeon & Cat,” by author Edward Hemingway, may be written for kids, but it’s certainly a book that will teach a lesson to everyone who reads it.

Dealing with issues like homelessness and empathy, “Pigeon & Cat” tells the story of an unlikely pair of animal friends who find each other and lose each other. But it also teaches how one simple act of kindness can change someone’s life.

I got to chat with Hemingway about what inspired him to write such a story and what writing this book has taught him about living life in the last couple years.

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Equality

San Francisco unveils major plan to combat homelessness amongst city's transgender community

America's housing crisis needs more creative solutions like this.

Image collage via Wikicommons

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a new plan to combat homelessness amongst the transgender community

Home is somewhere to lay your head down at night without worry that someone will steal all of your worldly possessions. Home is where people start families and make lifelong memories. Having a place to go home to every night is safety. Safety from the elements and safety from other people who may mean you harm.

And there's almost nothing more quintessentially American than owning a home. Yet, the reality is America does poorly with keeping people housed. Homelessness is a growing problem across the country, especially with the lack of affordable housing and wages that don’t always meet the minimum basic needs.

And the rates of homelessness among transgender people are higher than average with 8% of trans adults experiencing homelessness compared to 1% of cisgender straight adults, according to UCLA School of Law Williams Institute.

To help remedy the problem in her city, the mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, announced a plan to allocate $6.5 million toward an initiative to end homelessness of transgender people in the city.

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lgbtq rights

homelessness

“I wanted to give them a space that would be a real foundation and be a launch pad to help them break the cycle of homelessness.”

See life through someone else's eyes 👀

A group of 105 homeless people gathered at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

1. Ella Sullivan — "Heart Bike Rack"

2. Alana Del Valle — "London Bus with Sculpture"

3. Beatrice — "Out of the Blue"

4. Laz Ozerden — "What Now?"

5. Leo Shaul — "The Coffee Roaster"

6. Christopher McTavish — "St. Paul's in Reflection"

7. Hugh Gary — "London Calling"

8. Keith Norris — "Watching Mannequin"

9. Siliana — "After the Rain"

10. Saffron Saidi — "Graffiti Area"

11. Jackie Cook — "Underground Exit"

"Our moral compass is skewed if we think things like this are acceptable."

These are called "anti-homeless spikes." They're about as friendly as they sound.

The spikes are a prime example of how cities design spaces to keep homeless people away.

One particular set of spikes was outside a former night club in London. And a local group got sick of staring at them.

These spikes may be in London, but the U.S. definitely has its fair share of anti-homeless sentiment, too.

Thankfully, groups like "Space, Not Spikes" are out there changing hearts and minds. But they need our help.

Check out their video below:

'I see his feet and I just automatically took my shoes off.'

Other cities could adopt this approach.

“I want it to be like a unifying book, you know? Just to remind us all that we're all in this together,” author Edward Hemingway said.

Inspiration for “Pigeon & Cat”

The relationship between Pigeon and Cat

Empathy has a ripple effect

Why did he choose a pigeon and cat of all the possible animal choices?

On writing a book about homelessness, community and empathy during a pandemic

So, what does he ultimately want readers to gain from reading “Pigeon & Cat?”

America's housing crisis needs more creative solutions like this.