Photographs: Celebrate Christmas by Helping Homeless Near You

Before becoming the merchant’s holiday, Christmas, or the winter solstice celebration in pagan civilizations, was a time for reflecting and being grateful for what you had. It is, however, hard to be merry when you have nothing at all. In 2013, thousands of people will become homeless in America: children, women, entire families. They will be living in squalor, relying on private and religious charity. Homelessness has reached an epidemic proportion in the United States. It is not only a symptom of a broken social system, but also a shame for a nation that is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human rights. But photographs speak louder than words to express the suffering, the anguish, the loss of dignity endured by million of people in every city of the US. The homeless are invisible to some people, but they don’t realize that becoming destitute in our current social Darwinist context can happen to any of us.

 

Editor’s Note: All photographs by Gilbert Mercier.