COMMUNITY PROFILE DOCUMENTARY REVEALS THE HOMELESS EXPERIENCE IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PANDEMIC BY ASHTON BROWN ERIC PROTEIN MOSELEY, the director of the documentary “Homeless Coronavirus Outreach,” knows the struggle of homelessness all too well. Moseley was raised by a single parent in Detroit, Mich. He joined a gang, started experimenting with drugs, took up gambling, and dropped out of school — all before the 10th grade. Moseley’s downward spiral continued until he ended up a single father, who was responsible for raising his young daughter. During this time, he developed a crack cocaine addiction and was homeless. He also traveled across the country with his daughter. After a near overdose, Moseley overcame his addiction. He has been sober since 2001 and is a devout Christian. “It was by the grace of God I was able to come out of that,” Moseley said. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moseley traveled to San Francisco, where he met with people experiencing homelessness. He wasn’t that surprised to learn that five out of 10 of those with whom he spoke hadn’t even heard of the virus. By the time the COVID-19 pandemic reached its peak, a significant number of individuals experienced job loss and were unable to find affordable housing, leaving many of them unhoused. Seeing how people experiencing homelessness were treated during the early days of the pandemic inspired Moseley to produce “Homeless Coronavirus Outreach.” “Nobody even speaks to homeless people. Nobody cares, basically. There’s no channel that gives those experiencing homelessness an opportunity to tell their side of the story, so that’s what I did,” said Moseley. Based on his experience, Moseley believes there are three different types of homeless: upper, middle, and lower. According to Moseley, upper homeless are people trying their hardest to make it back into society. They usually can keep a somewhat stable job. The lower homeless are individuals who have accepted their situation and are actively living on the streets. They also may have a drug habit. The middle homeless are those who are trying not to fall into the lower homeless but are struggling too much to be in the upper. “I believe that the underprivileged communities are more valuable to those experimenting with a controlled substance than others,” Moseley said. Moseley also recognizes that people can have the best neighborhood, and still, addiction can find them. “While being homeless, it can be near impossible to juggle more than one thing,” he said. Moseley believes that about 75% of people experiencing homelessness suffer from some sort of addiction. “When you get caught up in that, you don’t want to deal with your regular problems because you’re trying to take care of the drug addiction; it’s just like a hamster on a wheel. You’re not getting anywhere,” he said. Moseley feels one way to reach out to an ignored community is to simply learn about them. “Learn how to speak urban language. Learn how to speak how the people on the streets talk and learn how they think,” he said. This approach bridges the divide between individuals and makes them feel heard. According to Moseley, as long as a profit is being made [by private companies such as homeless shelters], politicians will continue to look the other way, and a true solution to homelessness will never be reached. Moseley continues to travel around the country and is in the process of making his next social impact documentary. Denver Community Media is currently airing the 29-minute documentary “Homeless Coronavirus Outreach” on community access channels. It is also available for free on YouTube.■ teaching and live in the best PHOTO: COURTESY OF ERIC PROTEIN MOSELEY IMAGE: D-WORD.COM November 2022 DENVER VOICE 5
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