For a lot of people the homeless are like street furniture. You know that they are there but you pretend not to see them. For these people we came up with an initiative called the Bench Sessions. A project to help homeless people to become part of society again and for the cash rich, time poor professional to cut on his psychiatrist costs.
On paper the the project looks solid, but in practice it can be an other story. With the initiative to take it to a larger scale we had to do a trial. And what moment is more suited than our own graduation exhibition.
For each day we had a homeless guy at the exhibition where people could, if they felt like it, mingle with. Peter, our first homeless guy, showed up spot on time. But as happy as I was with his presence, others felt different. In the end Peter had to leave and the only thing that reminded of him where his Bench Sessions business cards and an empty bench.
So the trial was a failure? Not exactly. I think it proves the point about the attitude of many people towards the homeless. And unfortunately it still is a big step to see them as fellow humans.
I would like to thank Peter for his effort. And if you see a homeless person, don’t ignore him or her, but take some time listen to their story. Because homeless people are part of our society as well.
To read more about the Bench Sessions click here.
Tagged: Bench Sessions, Crisis, Hallo Exposed