We’re inspired by honest storytellers. One of our favorites stopped by the office today — Mark Horvath, who travels the U.S. and shares the stories of America’s homeless people on invisiblepeople.tv.
Mark meets homeless people wherever he goes. When you talk to him, you find out why — he’s outgoing, friendly and most importantly, he has been homeless himself. Mark gently asks questions, lets the camera roll, then posts his videos unedited. With a background in television and producing, he told us that he could include graphics, cutaways and music to change the affect of each interview. “But you’d lose something huge,” he said. “Their stories alone are powerful enough.”
Here’s one of those interviews, with a woman named Jean from St. Louis, Missouri:
Mark’s work won him the Pepsi Refresh Grant for $50,000 earlier this year. He used the award to start a new project called We Are Visible, a social network guide for the homeless. Although at least 2.3 million Americans are now living on the streets (and it’s projected they’ll be joined by another one million in the next year), Mark is confident that change can come if each person has a platform to speak up about what they’re going through. He’s seen first-hand how storytelling can spark change quickly — not just by connecting people who want to donate to those in need, but also by pushing public officials to confront the homelessness of their cities (one mayor Mark showed interviews to started up a local housing program within months).
We Are Visible teaches people how to use Facebook and Twitter, set up an email account and start blogging. Since most public libraries offer internet access, it’s available to anyone without their own computer. We (obviously) believe that social media can be used for good — and we’re excited to see how We Are Visible engages, connects and helps homeless people get access to care and justice.
