Our House e-newsletter January & February 2014 | Page 4

by Amanda Woods, Communications Specialist ( VISTA)

“Anyone can find themselves without a place to lay their head,”
Brenda Anthony says. She and other members of Our House’s
alumni group, known as F.R.E.S.H., spread this message when
they’re invited to speak to groups about homelessness. Like the
Our House staff, our former clients want the community to
understand the incorrectness of stereotypes about homelessness.
The Hollywood portrayal of homeless people as being by
definition unemployed, dirty, illiterate, unloved & unwanted,
mentally ill, alcoholic, drug-using criminals is not the reality.
Our House alumni decided it was time for society to take a fresh
look at what homelessness really is.