Our Members
We always say, homeless people are the real experts on homelessness. And PTH would be nothing without the power, strength, wisdom, courage and experience of our members.
Anyone who is currently or formerly homeless can become a member of Picture the Homeless. Our members make the majority of the decisions that shape our work, through collective collaborative campaign planning and development at weekly meetings. Members are the only ones who can speak on behalf of the organization to the media, and make up a majority of spots on our board of directors.
Here are just a few of the dynamic men and women who make up our organization!
Leroy Parker
Jarquay Abdullah
Cecelia Grant
Jesus Morales
Rosa Custodio
Ms. K. Samuels
Jose Rodriguez
Hugh Pressley
Jimmy Pizarro
“Country”
James Doctor – Maintenance Man
Fabian Cancel
Jazmin Berges
Mrs. Chula Murphy
Andres Perez
Arvernetta Henry
Ousmane Drame
Ms. Lewis
Charmel Lucas
Al Williams
Rogers
Danielle Stelluto
Sean Lance
Jean Rice
Ryan Gibbs
William S. Burnett
Rachel Brumfield
Darlene Bryant
"I tell people, if you're tired of talking about the problem and ready to do something about it, PTH is the place to be."
Alethea Smalls
"For people who have never dealt with homelessness, the most important thing to know is that we are proud people too. We have morale, we have lives. We have goals."
“Our demonstrations are in the spirit of the sit-ins from the Civil Rights Movement. But despite all the progress that was made in that era, the atrocities facing people of color today are even more extreme—you have tens of thousands of people living in shelters here in NYC, and 90% of them are African-American or Latino! Are they trying to run us out of New York?”
Roosevelt Orphee
PTH Member“We keep on saying this is a loving country, we care about people, it’s the land of milk and honey, land of the free—yet you got people living on the streets, sleeping in the shadows of these empty buildings.”
Richard Corley
PTH Member“Police officers regularly shout into the faces of the homeless while prodding them to wake up and wake them nearly every hour so that they cannot sleep. Some even make exultant ‘woo-hoo’ cries or bang their batons loudly and rhythmically as if on exuberant drums or speed up their carts ostentatiously while calling out ‘wakey! wakey!’ as they rush past the sleeping bodies of exhausted homeless people.”
Joan Harrison
PTH Member“The city should not be involved in creating homelessness. The city is paying contractors exorbitant amounts to maintain unstable housing for New York City residents. By not providing adequate help with evictions and not building income-targeted housing for neighborhoods, the people who helped create this city are becoming homeless.”