Joesph is 75 years-old and homeless. He says he ended up on the streets because someone “cleaned him outâ€, yet Joesph still maintains his serenity.
In 1983, Joesph was shot in the head by a 14-year-old boy with a .357 magnum. The boy was sentenced to 20 years in prison. After the sentencing, Joesph spent 16 months working to get the boy out of prison.
Watch his story:
Via Invisible People
There are roughly 2 million youths who experience homelessness every year.
Many of these kids are on the street due to issues beyond their control.
Girls that are being sexually molested by their fathers and boys who are being physically abused by their supposed loved ones, run away and are left on the streets because of the harsh card life has dealt them.
Roughly 2 million youths…
Let that sink in for a moment before watching this:
I found out about this campaign via Mark Horvath.
I’ve talked about Mark Horvath and his great work with Invisible People before. And I even had the chance to hang out this year IRL at SxSW and it was awesome to see that even in the midst of all that was going on (parties, events, etc.) – he still carried a backpack full of fresh socks (or freshies) to hand out to those on the streets of Austin.
As part of his own work to end homelessness, Mark kicked off a cross-country tour last month and he’s been highlighting the stories of homeless youth across the country. And this week he announced his partnership with Virgin Mobile, RE*Generation and Sevenly to help raise funds to help keep teens off the street.
“I understand where these kids are coming from. I was homeless myself but with the help and kindness of others, I was able get out of my dire situation. Our homeless youth deserve that chance and much more,” said Horvath. “These kids need compassion, guidance and care. With Sevenly.org and The RE*Generation, I believe we can really make a significant difference.”
To raise funds, Sevenly is selling some great shirts and for every shirt sold, $7 will go towards RE*Generation. And as a bonus… if 3,000 people share the Sevenly website this week (they’re at 1600 shares currently) Virgin Mobile will throw in an additional $50,000 to support RE*Generation.
So buy a shirt and share the site and do something to help end youth homelessness… and next time you’re out, grab an extra bag of socks to handout yourself. I know many would appreciate a clean pair of socks as much (if not more) than your spare change.
To see some of the teens already helped visit InvisiblePeople.tv or Mark’s Tumblr.