Airs Thursday, January 19, 2017 at 7 p.m. The 19 Annual Homelessness Marathon will be a four-hour broadcast, airing from 7-10 p.m., CT, on the evening of January 19. As always, the Marathon will feature the voices of desperately poor and homeless people. This year, we'll be asking them one question above all: What would you like to tell the incoming president?
According to Homelessness Marathon director, Jeremy Weir Alderson, "This isn't just about Donald Trump. We've been doing this since Bill Clinton was in office." In 1998, Alderson founded the broadcast in upstate New York, thinking it would be a one-time event, but the broadcast drew such a positive response that he kept it going, and it grew to have dozens of affiliates across the United States and a daughter broadcast, the Canadian Homelessness Marathon, airing on stations across Canada.
The 19th Annual Homelessness Marathon will be based in the studios of WMPG, community radio in Portland, Maine, where there will be in-studio guests both housed and homeless. But it is the hallmark of the Homelessness Marathon to air voices directly from the streets. This year that mission will be facilitated by a network of correspondents, offering microphones to homeless people across the country.
National Resources:
The National Coalition for the Homeless directories of homeless service and advocacy organizations
Couch Surfing International
(for information on being a guest or having guests around the world)
Dignity Village's "Tent City Toolkit"
National Law Center Wiki for Homeless activists
The Story of the Sisters of the Road Cafe
(For information on how to found a Sisters of the Road Cafe in your city, write to Marisa Espinoza - marisa@sistersoftheroad.org)
Local Resources:
Louisiana Homeless Shelters And Social Services
Texas Homeless Shelters And Social Services