HOMELESS ACTIvism

The Activist In ME

For many days, I did not sleep or eat, my health was deteriorating daily. I am a diabetic with chronic physical and mental health conditions. Medical professionals advised me to stay indoors on multiple occasions. It was said that I could pass out from dehydration, lack of food, vitamin deficiency, sleep deprivation and stress.

For 2 days I walked around Long Island City and slept in Milestone Park - where I had slept some nights, in the beginning of my art discovery and when I was most upset with staff treatment in shelter #4.

I was enraged by what I was witnessing at shelter #5. I could not be silent anymore. I needed to make a bold statement. Time Square seemed most appropriate.

Stories of Abuse within the nyc department of Homeless Services

There are so many stories, it would be impossible for me to find them all, but here are some.

Art Exchange

In no particular order, these are some examples of my art exchange for food, clothes and toiletries to help myself and others along their journey.

Shelter #4

Shelter #4 was a special accommodation's shelter for people with disabilities. It is where I began doing art. Just for this night, I didn't have a roommate, because I was recovering from COVID. Although it was one the nicest shelters. My stay there didnt last long, due to the beginning of the migrant crisis.

The traumatic transition when the Migrants from Venezuela ARRIVED

When The Migrants Began to Enter NYC, many homeless citizens experienced a traumatic transition. We were informed that in less than a week we were going to be disbursed to other shelters throughout the city, as our single women's disability shelter, would be transformed into a single men's migrant shelter. I was issued my 5th transfer papers 48 hours before I was moved. While in utter distress I was able to video document some of the days leading up to the chaos and disarray.

Citizen & Migrant Crisis

More than three million of New York City's 8.2 million residents were born outside the United States. While I am of Puerto Rican decent born in NYC.

New York City has a long history of welcoming immigrants, dating back to the 17th century. In that century, the population of New Netherland included Dutch, English, Swedes, Finns, Germans, Scandinavians, French, Scots, Irish, Jews, Italians, Croats, and Walloons from Belgium, as well as indigenous peoples, free and enslaved Africans, and others. In 1613, Juan Rodriguez, a Black or mixed race man, traveled to Manhattan from Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic) on a Dutch merchant ship.

In the late 1800s, most immigrants arriving in New York entered through Castle Garden, a depot near the tip of Manhattan. However, around 1890, the federal government realized that Castle Garden was not equipped to handle the large number of immigrants, so they built a new immigration station on Ellis Island in New York Harbor. The first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island was Annie Moore, a teenage girl from Ireland, who arrived on January 1, 1892. Over the next 62 years, more than 12 million immigrants would pass through Ellis Island, making it one of the busiest immigration ports in the country. Today, Ellis Island is a National Park.

Venezuelans make up the largest share of arrivals to New York City beginning in 2022. More than seven million refugees and migrants have left Venezuela, a country of 29 million people, as poverty, crime and political repression escalated under President Nicolás Maduro.

I STAND WITH MY VENEZULELAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

Not simply, because I am a fluent spanish speaking Puerto Rican woman, I interact with them daily and share my condolences for how they are being treated. The tears I have shared with women, children and even men - saddens me deeply.

I am a citizen, who for many years contributed my working tax dollars for city programs such as the Department of Homeless Services, and I had one of the worst experiences.

Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings - they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status.

A little bit about the art and journey

Just a little recap of how it all began and why I am called the "HOMELESS HEART".