Homeless Man Uses Social Media to Advocate
Originally posted on NPR, written by Pam Fessler.
Homeless advocate Eric Sheptock uses technology to get his message out. Though he’s homeless himself, he keeps a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Sheptock, who lives in Washington, D.C., says he wants to educate the public about what he and many others like him are up against.
He spends a lot of time in the city’s public libraries, where he gets free access to a computer. There he can check his e-mail account and write his blog — called On the Clock with Eric Sheptock — which has so far attracted hundreds of readers. He recently wrote about his concern that the homeless shelter he now lives in is in danger of closing.
“My next blog [post] is going to be about the challenges that homeless people have when it comes to employment because oftentimes they can’t get money to ride the bus to the job and they can’t get lunch money,” Sheptock says. “So for your first week or two, you have a lot of difficulty maintaining that job.”
He’s also written about how hard it is for the homeless to get work in the first place. For example, they might have to carry all their belongings to a job interview, turning off a potential employer. Or they might have to choose between work and food because the soup kitchen closes before the workday ends.
Sheptock also has a cell phone. He relies on it to keep in touch with other activists. He recently got a part-time job as a janitor, which helps pay for the phone.
Continue reading at NPR.org
- Posted by Causecast
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