- [Man] Mark.
- Yes.
- [Man] We're here in Seattle, you're homeless,
tell me about it.
- I've been homeless off and on
for four years.
Back in 2008, my daughter and wife died.
I had a nervous breakdown,
I ended up in a hospital, a psychiatric hospital
for about seven months.
When I came out, I found out very quickly
that it doesn't matter how legitimate of a reason you have,
in capitalist society, if you don't show up for work
or pay your bills for several months
you don't have anything anymore.
I was being evicted, car repossessed,
I basically lost everything
that I hadn't already lost.
Since then, I was homeless for about a year,
worked my way off the streets washing dishes
at a little deli.
I did that for about a year and a half
and then the place, business slowed down.
They had to let me go and couldn't pay my bills,
ended up back out here again.
- [Man] I'm so sorry.
- This time around, I still have faith in myself
and in my own abilities,
but I have lost faith in this system.
It works for the majority of people
and as long as it continues to do that,
those people can just turn their heads
and ignore those of us that it doesn't work for.
I just encourage people to stand together,
not just homeless people
but human beings,
'cause it is a human issue, not a homeless issue.
Demand that we all have the basic essentials,
the things that everybody needs
to survive and live a halfway decent life.
Just have peace and maybe even a little bit of comfort.
- [Man] So, how do you survive during the day?
- At this point, I kinda actually have given up
looking for work 'cause I got to the point
where I was about to lose my mind,
just being rejected over and over again.
I have at least taken a break from that.
But I panhandle, fly a sign,
sometimes I go to day labor or a temp service
every now and then has a small job for me.
But mostly just asking people for help,
spare change,
you don't make that much but somehow every day
I get what I need, thank God.
No matter how much society wants us
to believe that we're worthless or,
as the name of this project even says,
that we're invisible or that we don't count.
Nobody is better than anybody else.
We're all just as valid in this situation as anyone.
So, I just encourage anybody who sees this to,
don't forget that.
You don't have to believe in all the bullshit
you've been told your whole life.
But don't stop believing in yourself.
- [Man] If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- I'm not sure.
I guess just silly
typical things like peace for everybody,
no war, no famine, nobody in need
or going hungry, that kind of thing.
Just everybody having what they need
and there being peace on earth
and that we would all be able to understand each other,
even if we had to be a little bit patient
or tolerant, or try a little bit to be able to do that,
that we would realize that it's worth the effort
to try and understand each other
instead of just ignoring or getting angry
or discounting those who we don't understand automatically.
If you don't understand someone right away,
then try a little harder.
I had a sponsor in AA and he said,
you are not here to be loved, comforted, or understood.
You were put here to love, comfort, and understand.
- [Man] I like that.
- And if we all lived by that,
then of course, obviously everybody
would be loved, comforted, and understood.
I guess, I don't know if that really answers
the question entirely.
- [Man] It does.
Well, thank you very much for talking to me.
- Thank you, I appreciate it.