Although each community in different parts of the world is unique, a lot of those communities share some common features. In a TedxTalks video, Martha Stone, an executive director of a shelter, provides some insight into homelessness, one of the common features of various areas. Stone presents some statistics of people who need shelter and shares three stories of those who had stayed at the facility that she runs. She emphasizes that homeless people are not always dressed in worn-out clothes, begging for a change on the streets. Often, homeless people are those who have jobs but cannot yet afford to pay rent, those who have mental health issues, or those undergoing recovery. Moreover, Stone’s shelter provides help to families with children of all ages who cannot have a regular childhood as they constantly question whether they will have a roof over their heads. Martha Stone thoroughly discusses the matter sharing information on the causes of homelessness, its consequences, and what society can do about it.
I have to admit that homelessness was one of the aspects of everyday life that I had not paid much attention to prior to watching this video. In my opinion, the video was done very well as Martha Stone provided a significant amount of detailed information in such a short time. I liked that aside from describing homelessness, Stone also suggested ways of helping the situation, such as donating items from shelters’ wish lists. Although this is not related to the execution of the video, I was surprised when she said that the government provided only 25% of their shelter’s funding which may reflect the situation with other facilities. Overall, in my opinion, the content of the video was very detailed and thought-provoking.