Tag Archives: Let’s Get Street Smart

9 things the homeless need that you’ve never thought of

June 29, 2016 | Posted by: Natasha Deganello Giraudie, Creative Director

Homelessness is a crisis we all want to overcome – for our unhoused neighbors, for our city, for ourselves, for our children and their children. After spending a few months on the streets producing an 8-part series of short films exploring solutions to homelessness, SF-style, this is what I learned.

Sleep – You know what going without it for a night feels like. But the cumulative effect is torture. People need a safe place to sleep to protect their mental and physical health.

Showers – There are fewer than 10 public shower stalls per thousand people in SF. Same with toilets. Enough said.

A closer look – Laziness is rarely what lands people on the street, rather it’s usually a significant traumatic event like the loss of a job, health, a child, a parent, a safe home or a safety net.

A simple hello – Few can imagine what it’s like to be routinely ignored by almost everyone.

A long term view – People who have fallen so hard may need several chances to get on a path to fulfill their potential as human beings.

Secondary services – Counseling, work experience, child care and other services alongside housing give people the best chance of getting off the street.

A home within – That inner place of peace is just as important as the physical houses.

Your employer’s taxes – When profitable companies use loopholes, they count on the poor to foot the bill of our government expenses.

Your vote for affordable housing – There are simply not enough places for people to live here. End of story.

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Let’s Get Street Smart is an 8-part series of 3-minute-short films that explore ways out of the homelessness crisis, SF style. To watch the films go to Let’sGetStreetSmart.com

#SFHomelessProject

“Let’s Get Street Smart” public premiere

February 12, 2016 | Posted by: Natasha Deganello Giraudie, Creative Director

Happy Friday everyone. Before the week is through, we wanted to share some photos from the public premiere of Let’s Get Street Smart last weekend at the SOMA StrEat Food Park.

The short films were very well received. Everyone seemed eager to get involved to stop the homelessness crisis. About 200 people watched the micro-documentaries, including a number of unhoused neighbors who were invited to the event.

It was the perfect venue for us – on the street, in a food truck park having a conversation about what it means to get street smart in the new sense of the term:

– becoming educated in the causes of homelessness (it can happen to anyone)
– refusing to accept the dehumanization that comes from living on the street (just the lack of sleep is like torture!)
– engaging in building communities that work for all of us (it’s pretty clear that otherwise they won’t work for any of us).

“Let’s Get Street Smart” debuts Sunday at SoMa StrEat Food Park!

February 3, 2016 | Posted by: Natasha Deganello Giraudie, Creative Director

We’re excited to announce that Let’s Get Street Smart, our new series on innovative solutions to homelessness, will have its public debut at the SoMa StrEat Food Park this Sunday. Yes, Super Bowl Sunday. In fact, our films will be screening on big screen TVs right alongside Super Bowl coverage. Food trucks, football, fighting homelessness, who can beat that?!

Here’s what you need to know:

What: Let’s Get Street Smart film debut (eek!)

Where: SoMa StrEat Food Park (428 11th St @ Division St.)

When: 2:00 PM

We’ll see you there!

New Year’s Resolution: Let’s Get Street Smart

January 8, 2016 | Posted by: Natasha Deganello Giraudie, Creative Director

Rain has arrived at last in the Bay Area. After three years of drought, we all could use the downpour. But as our lakes, rivers, and reservoirs rejoice, the homeless are left out in the cold. Cardboard tents turn to mush. Clothes get wet and heavy. Talk to anyone on the streets, and winter rain is one of the toughest things to endure.

It doesn’t have to be this way. In San Francisco especially, a city where innovation meets activism every single day. Here most of all we should be able to turn our hallmark qualities toward those of us who are living on the street.

Let’s make it a resolution: That this year, we remember what makes San Francisco so great and use it to address homelessness once and for all. This is the goal of our new independent, short-film series Let’s Get Street Smart, which is on Kickstarter today. Campaign ends in 7 days!

Let’s Get Street Smart chronicles the lives of 9 innovators who show us what’s possible when we unravel the complex and painful web of homelessness and address different facets of the problem with the hallmarks of SF’s culture: innovation & activism.

If you feel as passionately about this cause as we do, we would love your support on Kickstarter. Each journey of 100 steps starts with one single one. We have taken 55. With your help we can complete our funding goal for Let’s Get Street Smart. Of the $100k we are looking for, $55k have been pledged, pending the full commitment. $50k came from the Peery Foundation. $5k has been committed on Kickstarter campaign. We are looking for $45k more.

Let’s get this done!

Love and light,

Natasha