They're not celebrities. They're homeless. And these tweets are awful.

[Serendipity 7,821]

Jimmy Kimmel's "Celebrities reading mean tweets" is one of his funniest and most parodied segments. But when a Canadian charity asked local homeless folks to read what people had to say about homelessness on Twitter, the result wasn't funny at all.

 

 

Homeless people are still people.

One December evening, my husband Patrick and I were stopped outside our building by a homeless man asking for a cigarette. Pat, being the friendly and talkative guy that he is, happily offered him a cigarette and struck up a conversation with him while I tried to hurry us inside away from the cold. It was in those few moments — while Pat and the man laughed about how crappy the winter had been and the price of cigarettes — that a wave of embarrassment washed over me. Here I was feeling put out over a few minutes chatting with this man because I was cold. Meanwhile, he'd be stuck outside long after our conversation ended. And in talking to him, the man went from being a "homeless guy" to being a guy in our neighborhood who was fed up with city life just like we were, but he was still able to laugh it off with a smile.

And while I consider myself to be a pretty compassionate person with tons of empathy to go around, the lesson here is that it's too easy for many of us to forget that the homeless folks who line our city sidewalks are real people with hopes, dreams, families, and challenges just like everyone else. These people are not inconveniences to our selfish daily lives. They're people.

It's not easy being homeless.

There are tons of reasons people end up on the streets: debt, mental illness, family tragedy, and addiction. There's also a growing population of homeless LBGTQ youth, many of whom were put out by their own families. That's why comments like the ones presented in the video above feel so incredibly heartless.

Homeless people are still people.

One December evening, my husband Patrick and I were stopped outside our building by a homeless man asking for a cigarette. Pat, being the friendly and talkative guy that he is, happily offered him a cigarette and struck up a conversation with him while I tried to hurry us inside away from the cold. It was in those few moments — while Pat and the man laughed about how crappy the winter had been and the price of cigarettes — that a wave of embarrassment washed over me. Here I was feeling put out over a few minutes chatting with this man because I was cold. Meanwhile, he'd be stuck outside long after our conversation ended. And in talking to him, the man went from being a "homeless guy" to being a guy in our neighborhood who was fed up with city life just like we were, but he was still able to laugh it off with a smile.

And while I consider myself to be a pretty compassionate person with tons of empathy to go around, the lesson here is that it's too easy for many of us to forget that the homeless folks who line our city sidewalks are real people with hopes, dreams, families, and challenges just like everyone else. These people are not inconveniences to our selfish daily lives. They're people.

It's not easy being homeless.

There are tons of reasons people end up on the streets: debt, mental illness, family tragedy, and addiction. There's also a growing population of homeless LBGTQ youth, many of whom were put out by their own families. That's why comments like the ones presented in the video above feel so incredibly heartless.

 

But if being without a home and dealing with the stigma of being homeless wasn't hard enough, some states are enacting tough laws that leave homeless folks without places to sleep and that even penalize citizens for food sharing.

And while it was heartbreaking watching the folks in the "Homeless reading mean tweets" video confront the nasty misconceptions that too many have about the homeless, here's hoping it helps reframe the way we think about the homeless and the aid they need and deserve.

Interested in helping the homeless in your community? Check out "35 ways to help the homeless" from JustGive.org

God, this is so inhumane, this makes me hate people who feel annoyed by the homeless

[HighwayGuy 1,498]

I can't believe there's a ban on sleeping in cars in many cities! 

What harm is someone causing by simply sleeping in their own car? I don't get it 

[Lady Palutena 3,147]

I feel really bad when I come across homeless people because I can't imagine what they go through, it makes me thankful for how much I do have. I do try to give them money when I can, my friends were shocked that I gave a homeless couple 50$ in my college trimester.

It's disgusting how mean those tweets are. How dare those people take to Twitter to berate the homeless? The stigma surrounding them is so misinformed and wrong on so many levels. How can these people be given a chance if they're expected to be criminals? I feel the ones who tweeted those things should be put through homelessness to see how it feels.

I'm visibly upset right now, the nerve of some people .

 

 

[lego 44,165]

The idiots who sent mean tweets about homeless people  wait, till it happens to you.

[Evan Peters 10,776]

Really puts into perspective how we perceive celebrities to be these entities who are incapable of feeling emotion or being hurt by what people say to them.

 

Saw this a while ago, the things that were said were pretty gross. Homelessness is something that needs to be addressed but rarely ever is. 

[Melech 9,900]

Yeah I saw that before. I nearly cried. Especially at the end. The world should be runned by good humans, not by money.

[Melech 9,900]

The idiots who sent mean tweets about homeless people  wait, till it happens to you.

​Yep this. You can fall so easily in homelessness. 

 

[Bio 23,538]

That`s so sad, people are so mean and self-centered it makes me angry. In the neighborhood I live in there aren't many homeless people, but if you go closer to the city you can find thousands of them and it breaks my heart. Most of them are addicted to crack, there is even an area in my city that people call the "crackland"and they make fun of it saying that at night it looks like they're on The Walking Dead show. 

[Born To Slay 10,996]

I always give to the homeless when I see them, I try my best spare a dollar or two. It gives them hope, it says "I care" and most importantly it could get them a bite to eat.

[Born To Slay 10,996]

That was utterly depressing a video to watch

[bionic 50,111]

Does anybody else remember the tacky video Justin Timberlake had at his wedding about homeless people?  

[Princess Die 1,864]

I was homeless about a year ago and I can say these tweets are representative of how "normal" people truly veiw homelessness. I was asked to leave my home because my time there was up (I was given a transitional apartment for two years due to me being homeless as well two years before). Despite this, people came up with all sorts of nasty stories about me. Both my boyfriend and myself couldn't really sit anywhere without being judged, etc.

[Serendipity 7,821]

I was homeless about a year ago and I can say these tweets are representative of how "normal" people truly veiw homelessness. I was asked to leave my home because my time there was up (I was given a transitional apartment for two years due to me being homeless as well two years before). Despite this, people came up with all sorts of nasty stories about me. Both my boyfriend and myself couldn't really sit anywhere without being judged, etc.

​

[Princess Die 1,864]

​

 It's all good now, however it forever changed my life. For the better. Unfortunately one cannot be said about someone else that would never have to live through that. It isn't really something that can be experienced through empathy. My own family, whom are extremely wealthy, don't hesitate to judge how I now live my own life. I feel the message for this project will be lost to a good majority to those who see it.

[Serendipity 7,821]

 It's all good now, however it forever changed my life. For the better. Unfortunately one cannot be said about someone else that would never have to live through that. It isn't really something that can be experienced through empathy. My own family, whom are extremely wealthy, don't hesitate to judge how I now live my own life. I feel the message for this project will be lost to a good majority to those who see it.

​that is one of the most beautiful things i've ever heard

brought tears to my eyes