Housing for New Hope
Preventing and Ending Homelessness, One Valuable Person at a Time
Duke Students Produce “Coming Home”
12/06/2010
Is it possible to truly appreciate, understand, and convey what it means to be homeless?
That was the questions posed to ten Duke undergraduates this semester in a service-learning course entitled "Documentary Engagement," supported by The Hart Leadership Program at the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke.
Each week, in addition to traditional in-classroom participation, the students were required to spend more than twenty hours over the course of the semester with homeless and formerly homeless individuals that have been assisted by Housing for New Hope. Among their experiences, students joined Housing for New Hope staff to visit with the street homeless in their camps, shared meals with transitional housing residents, and helped to serve meals at the local shelters. In addition, each student took hundreds of photographs and captured many hours of audio.
As a final project, each student produced a six to eight minute audio slideshow rendering the story of one person affected by homelessness. These documentaries illustrate the complex factors contributing to homelessness today, as well as reveal the programs and supports that enable people in crisis to move towards lives marked by increased levels of stability, dignity, hope and independence.
There work is captured on "Coming Home".
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12/26/2011... Lack of affordable housing and work of our Re-Housing Team featured
11/17/2011... Homeless outreach featured in News & Observer
11/04/2011... Summit on Support Circles for Orange County
