Blue Eyes, 44

'Just Give Us a Chance'

“There are a lot of us who have health problems. I have heart problems. And the cops keep making us move, either in the heat or in the winter. Some of us can’t move that fast, and then they’ll get mad and arrest you because you’re not moving fast enough. We’re just sitting here. We’re not doing anything wrong. Why are the cops going to bug us? There’s no reason for it. We’re trying to stay cool in the shade. They want us to sit in the sun and walk around. The other day, a few of us had heat stroke. And the cops came and tried to make us all move.

They tell us to go to the shelters. A lot of us don’t. I won’t go to shelters because my oldest was sexually abused in a shelter. We could use officers’ help, not have them downgrading us. Everybody downgrades us. A lot of people downgrade us because we’re homeless. There’s no reason to. A lot of us have worked. I was the manager at Arctic Circle. It was fun, just working with the people I worked with. I even got my daughter a job over there.

We all stick up for each other. If one person has a problem or issue, you see everybody helping out. It’s amazing. We were at Liberty Park one night. We heard a girl screaming across the street. There was like 12 of us. We all went across the street to help. The girl started walking toward us. Everybody took her in. We gave her clothes, blankets, everybody gave her food. Everybody did something, but we all took her in. It was beautiful. She was being kidnapped. Somebody tried to put her in a car that she didn’t want to get into. She was silent for a while. But eventually, she came out and told everybody what happened. But when we come together, we come together. It’s nice.

A couple years ago, my fiancé gave up his sweater to a guy that was sitting in the cold rain and snow. And he ended up getting soaked. Everybody thinks we’re all doing drugs. We’re not bad people – we’re not. Just give us a chance. Let us show you what we’re about.”

Photograph and story documented by Stephen Speckman.