For this installment, Mark Hansen reads “Junkyard Angels” by Dustin LaPres.

The original essay is available free to all readers:

Click the audio player to listen in your browser or listen and subscribe via Apple, Spotify, or in your favorite podcast app.

Stay tuned for new unscripted conversations, interviews, and more original work from homeless writers—read by volunteer readers or the authors themselves.

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Life on the street can be dangerous, even in our community.

There is theft, often among our own (homeless). If you can imagine stealing from another who has so little. There is violence. This often accompanies theft. Violence against our brothers and sisters.

There is sexual assault. Rape. Unfortunately, this is almost commonplace among our alleged brothers and our sisters. The incidents of sexual assault rise incrementally with the use of alcohol or other drugs.

Click the audio player to listen in your browser. You can also subscribe via Apple, Spotify, or in your favorite podcast app.

The original essay from Renee Rop is available free to all readers:

Speak Up

Unmentionables

Life on the streets is ROUGH: Where to sleep without being harassed; how to keep oneself and one’s valuables safe and dry; how to stay warm. Where is the nearest public restroom? One does not wish to get a loitering ticket, or even worse, a public urination charge, which is actually a Criminal Sexual Conduct charge. Life on the street is more difficul…

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5 years ago · 1 like · Renee Rop

Want to join other Speak Up readers and give an audible voice to writers facing homelessness by reading aloud an essay for a future show? Start here.

Join the conversation. We want to hear from you in the comments!

When I was alone—sleeping alone in public, collecting dirt in layers and becoming more convinced that no one cared at all—my largest concern was cleanliness.

I didn’t want to look homeless and dirty. I didn’t want to stink and repel people. I didn’t want to slide further away from civilized living and a chance to regain my life.

How could I get a job looking and smelling like I had been camping for a week?

Click the audio player to listen in your browser. You can also subscribe via Apple, Spotify, or in your favorite podcast app.

The original essay from Matt Hoffman is available free to all readers:

Speak Up

Staying Clean

When I was alone—sleeping alone in public, collecting dirt in layers and becoming more convinced that no one cared at all—my largest concern was cleanliness. I didn’t want to look homeless and dirty. I didn’t want to stink and repel people. I didn’t want to slide further away from civilized living and a chance to regain my life. …

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4 years ago · 3 likes · Matt Hoffman

Want to join other Speak Up readers and give an audible voice to writers facing homelessness by reading aloud an essay for a future show? Start here.

Join the conversation. We want to hear from you in the comments!

Each short episode will feature a single essay written by someone who is experiencing or has faced homelessness.

Pieces are read aloud by Speak Up readers and subscribers. And occasionally by the author.

This essay was written by Jennifer. It is read by Peggi Knowe.

Read Jennifer’s original work here:

Click the audio player to listen in your browser. You can also subscribe via Apple, Spotify, or in your favorite podcast app.

Want to join other Speak Up readers and give an audible voice to writers facing homelessness by reading aloud an essay for a future show? Start here.

We want to hear from you in the comments!