Documentário | Jovem e sem-teto: a crise de moradia em Nova York

[Music] I got a safe roof over her head for now until we find an apartment and just you know making sure I took every necessary step to make sure that you know this one gets like the life that I never had but it's real easy to be homeless these days [Music] and so this is where I [Music] [Music] live [Music] I'll be the entryway this is basically my kitchen that's the fridge that they provide in the unit and they also provide a little table and then they give you a dresser and a bed as you

can [Music] see [Music] right now we're trying to get help getting an apartment but it's taking a little while now because the public assistance is backed up with a bunch of cases so right now we're just waiting to get help that we need we had to do like a few hurdles um it took us like three tries to get to this shelter so they have multiple shelters in New York but the shelters we were sent to before they they were kind of like not suitable like for us living in them because at the time she

was pregnant and the conditions were really like bad I would say it was um run down areas there was a lack of security um the space that they provided was really really small like I say like shoulder to solder like units I'd say it's like about like 3x3 um this one that we got to it it was it was like more convenient for us because it had a little bit more [Music] space [Music] my sisters all went through the shelter system cuz they all have kids and you know they couldn't like stay where they were

living could they couldn't live like with my mom cuz no space there so they had to go through the shelter too and that's kind of what made me want to say hey if they could do it I could do it too more people are going into the hospital just cuz they want a bed they want something to eat and you know the the hospital can't deny them but it's unfortunate cuz sometimes I have to like kick them out cuz that's like a part of my job even though I don't want to cuz I understand what

it is to be homeless since I experienced that [Music] myself I I never thought I was a good person you know I thought I was just average person but you know she she really gets in my head and she lets me know like hey you're a strong guy you do everything you can to do right and it's true she she made me like she she made me find a fire in myself that I didn't know I had until you already had that fire no I I didn't I didn't have I didn't realize that I had

that fire until she like helped me acknowledge it and then from there it's just been it just keeps burning stronger and stronger and then with this one it's like she asleep now it's just like a a furnace or something it's just going to keep burning like you know no matter what happens to me if I have health conditions or mental conditions you know I'm always going to try to be the rock for them try to be a a sense of stability that they could always rely on cuz you know this is this is my family

now so you know I want to do the best thing to be their protector and and their provider figh and I'm going to do everything in my power to do that um I always believed in him um people used to tell me all the time you know he's bad for you don't follow him he's so many things but I should close my ears to it cuz I believed in him to this day I believe in him it's real easy to be homeless these days um because of the economic issue I mean look this neighborhood there

was a time even for me where the landlord didn't give me heat I look around the corner and get a bigger apartment for less money that was the situation I mean there wasn't this hustle and this issue of Statistics in terms of you know how much apartments are costing we weren't looking at a lot of that but today the issue is out of control where there is no housing um for even people who who want them and need them uh the apartments that I used to rent were $200 the same apartment today is $4,000 same

apartment for I always say that I'm a court advocacy program um I I don't really deal in homelessness however this work takes me into everywhere including the issue of homelessness because I'm representing a lot of young people um who in 2023 or since the pandemic even before that these kids are on their own problems at home um uh problems that they create for themselves sometimes that create situations where they can't go home [Music] for at the age of 13 I started to sell drugs um all the way up to about 16 and a half and

at 16 I was arrested three times and at the same time I found out I was pregnant so that just flipped my whole life around in many different places where the program came in play to help me do that exactly which is put me back in school um you know get me a place I was living with my mom at the time in the studio apartment um just to prepare myself for being a young mother um I was 16 I had no idea what I was getting myself into um between becoming a young mother and

Fa in state prison time um I think those are two barriers that I probably won't want to wish on anybody hey how are you um to my understanding he had a court appearance today correct and the outcome was to my understanding if he was being released mom had to be there correct no um I want to you know follow up on the on the status because if we do need to go up there we just need a heads up okay appreciate you all right thank you okay you to bye yep they want to know nothing

until tomorrow that that's another state New York and Connecticut runs very different you cannot possibly do this job if you just coming in here just do a job and go home this job has more to do with it mentally we we are fighting against a system that clearly is not fair for minorities so it it's like a balance that is just not fair right home supposed to be the safe place and safe home is not safe for most of these kids who come here unfortunately um and from that I was like wow you know like

I got to get it together um because I would have been crying all the time you know most of our kids don't get a good deal like we will hope um you know because we up against a system that the law comes in play well my you know between my trauma that I've been through um between being in a criminal justice system homeless a domestic violence Survivor I will tell my young self that it's not my fault um that I am loved there's people that do care for me um and you can do anything that

you put your mind into I think confidence is a very key point to these kids who go through or being in the shelter because for some kids is embarrassed um and just to make them feel that they [Music] Worthy for ever since she was born I feel like time has just been flying like I feel like a month goes by and a week mhm you know there's no time to think just everything is just happening at the same time before I know it we're going to be all living in our apartment with our three cats

I've done the most that I've ever done in my entire life when it comes to like trying to be responsible being on top of everything getting everything that we need together you know all the paperwork all the information having to R stuff it's it's just been a lot like you know I feel like I'm I'm pooped I'm ready to go to sleep and not wake up till next year