How did we get here and what do we do now? A conversation with Sinan Demirel.

We want to begin this episode by asking a big question.
With all the suffering, all the helplessness and fear felt, as expressed by Dene and others living on our streets, why have we not ended homelessness?

In this episode of You Know Me Now we’ll be discussing the controversial government policy of sweeps.

Sweeps as a solution have not proven to be an answer to, or even a path towards, addressing homelessness. Yes they provide immediate relief to those being impacted, but the issue itself is not being resolved by sweeping, only swept to a new location where another neighborhood is then impacted.

In this episode we meet Auntie who poses a question. A question really for all of us, which is, “If you are judging my life, tell me what you have done with yours?” She goes on to say, there are probably a lot of your actions that you don’t think are wrong, but to her and to others, maybe they are.

In this episode we are going to hear from the Miller family and their struggle with Conall’s addiction. In a world that is ever more complex, our relationship to it is increasingly being simplified. We are living in an age of information overload. There is not enough time to consume, verify, digest, and form an opinion on everything being presented. So we take short-cuts. In the rush of daily life, it’s easy to dive less deep so that we can cover more area, hoping to know a little about a lot. Soundbites and stereotypes work their way into our understanding and beliefs of the world around us. 

What does becoming a friend with someone experiencing homelessness look like? Getting to know and becoming friends with anyone, you begin to care about that person, about their well being. When your friend is struggling it pulls at you, you want to help. That’s what friends do.

Meet Courtney. A mother of three who survived homelessness on Seattle streets. “When we first came to Seattle it was so freeing, so comfortable. It all felt right. I remember closing my eyes and breathing in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, feeling happy. A sense of belonging filled me. Best of all we didn’t feel judged. People were saying, “No worries”. - Courtney

This is our first episode, a trailer that gives a glimpse into what you can expect to hear from us.