Ventura has been on all sides of the system, he has tasted the comforts of a home, he has huddled in the freezing cold while being street homeless, and now he stays in a safe haven.
Photo by Dean Moses
He does it for those still left behind.
Eduardo Ventura can be found most Sundays camped at East 9th Street and Avenue B, though he’s no longer homeless. Ventura is there now, huddled under scaffolding where he once slept, to help other unhoused New Yorkers while also raising awareness for what he says are deplorable conditions inside the shelter system.
Ventura has been on all sides of the homelessness crisis; he has tasted the comforts of a home and huddled in the freezing cold while being street homeless before finding a safe haven where he now resides.
However, he cites his time in the NYC shelter system as the worst experience of all.
“It’s not a condition for nobody to live in,” Ventura told amNewYork Metro. “When I was in a shelter the problem is the security is not enough. You cannot leave your property. It’s dirty, the condition of the bathroom… it’s no condition for nobody.”
In an effort to underscore the state of the shelter system, every Sunday, Ventura returns to his old patch of sidewalk and decorates the area with signs asking passersby to consider what it is like to be unhoused.
Perhaps most significant of all, he also posted photographs that allegedly shows the deplorably environment found within New York shelters. The images depict crowded conditions, items strewn about, and, most shockingly of all, ceilings completely destroyed.
For Ventura this is a message he wants to ensure he spreads in hopes of raising awareness and putting eyes on what the city’s most vulnerable face.
“For now, we do it every Sunday,” Ventura said. “We used to do it every day when I was homeless.”
In addition to denouncing what he calls a cruel and uncaring system, he also uses the space on weekends to take donations such as food,…
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