Hi, I’m Renee, and I am currently a highschool Sophomore in San Diego, CA. As a kid, I had always been taught to stay away from figures crouching in the shadows, to turn my head away, walk a little faster, hold my bags a little tighter. Although empathetic and kindhearted people, my parents’ first priorities have always been to keep me safe, and that meant to educate me on the potential dangers the unhoused pose. One of my most vivid memories from my childhood was running through downtown San Francisco with my mom in the pitch black of night. As she gripped my hand tighter, my mom told me to start running through the groups of huddled figures on the sidewalk. Being only 7, I was confused as to why she was so petrified, but I later learned of the supposed and arguably real risks of walking through an area so densely populated with the unhoused at night. However, through the passage of time, the growth of my mental and emotional capacities, as well as maturity, and having spent time educating myself on this humanitarian issue, I now understand that my mom’s antagonization of the homeless stems from our inability as a society to understand the individual stories and situations of the unhoused. I wanted to find a way to work on erasing the stigma surrounding homelessness. This is what has motivated me to start this project.