It’s easy to ignore someone when you don’t know or care to know anything about them. But it’s different when that person shows up in your social media stream, telling you about a lonely day on the street or simply wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day.
Underheard in New York is an initiative to help homeless New Yorkers speak for themselves through Twitter. Four homeless people — Danny (@putodanny), Derrick (@awitness2011), Albert (@albert814) and Carlos (@jessie550) — were given their own prepaid cell phone, a month of unlimited text messaging and a Twitter account.
The goal was to raise awareness and give a peek inside the daily struggles and unexpected challenges of being homeless in a major urban city. Between January 2009 and January 2010 the total number of unsheltered individuals within New York City rose an estimated 34%; this fi gure doesn't include the tens of thousands staying in shelters.
Underheard in New York’s co-creators provided the men in the project with some basic training on how to access and use Twitter. Underheard in New York (@underheardinNY) was developed by Rosemary Melchior, Robert Weeks and Willy Wang, three interns at the BBH advertising agency. They, like all interns, were issued the challenge: “Do something good… Famously.”
The back half of that mandate is sure to cast aspersions on the project’s motives. The team has been careful and upfront about the challenge. Its website reads: “We decided famous was just another way of saying make people listen. Go big. Be heard. Make real change.” Weeks insists the initiative was started with the utmost sincerity.
While Underheard in New York has no direct fundraising component, Weeks hopes it will help people better understand homelessness and inspire them to volunteer or...
