Ryan

Ryan Gibbs I had been homeless a month when I first became involved with Picture the Homeless. During that month, my friend Bruce Little had mentioned the organization he was affiliated with and it had sparked my interest. The very first day I went to Picture the Homeless I was involved in a sleep-out. On one hand I felt a little awkward participating in an action because I knew nothing about anyone really except what Bruce had told me. And on the other hand, I felt very comfortable around this group of individuals. At first, I would only go to Picture the Homeless for time to time. I would attend their Civil Rights Committee meetings. Then I found myself going more and more. It gave me an opportunity to get away from where I had been hanging out and spending most of my time. I had found a new set of friends that I felt were actually doing something to better inform and really trying to improve the conditions of our community. I know that I wanted to be a part of this group. Since then I am no longer street homeless but I am still involved with Picture the Homeless. It has gotten so good that I find myself at the office three or four days out of the week. I also help staff two legal clinics to inform homeless people of their civil rights. I have become the data entry person around the office. It is also no problem for me to facilitate our Civil Rights Committee meetings when needed. I am on the media team as well, videotaping the various issues that Picture the Homeless contends with. The people at Picture the Homeless have become my family. There isn’t a better group of people I would rather hang around with. Plus, when we get together, it is to fight for social justice. And I’m not missing out on anything.