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This is just great- Underheard in NY, which I wrote about last week, has already proved itself worthwhile. Even if nothing else comes out of this project, this one story alone makes the whole thing worth it. Danny Morales, a homeless man given a twitter account and a prepaid phone, has been able to reconnect with his daughter through the power of social media.
Morales has been homeless since November, but had been trying for years to locate his daughter. She’d been trying to find him as well. They were separated in 2000 when she went to live with her mother, from whom Morales was estranged. They moved away, and he moved to Puerto Rico.
Fast-forward to now: After Underheard in New York gave Morales the cell phones, and showed him Twitter, he took to it right away, tweeting in English and Spanish, and quickly amassing 3,000 followers.
Three weeks later, Morales decided to try to find Rivera through his new avenue to the world – and succeeded.
Someone anonymously contacted Rivera on Facebook to let her know her father was very much alive and hoped to reunite.
One contact led to another, and finally, out of the blue, came a call to Morales from Rivera Thursday night. “We’ve got so much to say,” Morales told his daughter. ” … I love you.”
Underheard is a great project on a lot of levels, most interestingly in terms of sheer return on investment. A lot of money can do a lot of good- Bill and Melinda Gates are trying to cure malaria in southeast Asia, which is great. But its easy to do a lot when you have a lot to spend. Its doing a lot with a little that is especially impressive. For the cost of 3 prepaid phones and a few man hours, Underheard in NY has reminded us that the homeless are people too, with hopes and dreams and long lost daughters.
Highlights from this weeks Best Art Ever over at ComicsAlliance.com. Also can be bought (!!!!) here for $20. In case anyone is wondering, yes, I have already bought it, yes, I will be framing it and yes, it will be hanging in my bathroom, along with my Blue Sun travel posters. Yes, my bathroom (aka nerd shrine) is awesome. Altho not as awesome as this one.
A) Stopmotion animation is cool
B) I told you books were alive.
C) This dialog took place in my head
John Milton: Books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them.
Dr Peter Venkman: You’re so right, no human being would stack books like this
Areopagitica x Ghostbusters crossover, FTW!
=
Damn straight. And he makes a few good points in terms of content as well. It IS supposed to be difficult to push legislation through. Its not supposed to be easy, or quick, or painless. And you most certainly ARENT supposed to sneak votes while the opposition is out of the room. Im not sure, but Im almost certain that thats…. sort of illegal.
Underheard in New York | Fighting homelessness 140 characters at a time.
This is really amazing. “When we first met Carlos, he said that people didn’t realize being homeless was “like a job”- how much effort it takes just to survive each week.
Every day we avoid contact with the homeless; we ignore them, we don’t see them, we look past them. Whether it’s due to a lack of trust or discomfort or even older stereotypes, it’s easier to write them off as a group rather than look at them as individuals.
Underheard in New York is an initiative to help homeless residents in New York City speak for themselves. We’ve provided Danny, Derrick, Albert and Carlos each with their own mobile phone, a month of unlimited text messaging and a Twitter account. They’ve found their voices by texting their thoughts, feelings and actions to Twitter. We aim to use their social media presence to create real interaction both online and off.
In other words, get to know them as individuals.”
