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Yesterday, I delivered a birth certificate to a client, Mark. It was the second one we'd ordered, the first somehow never arrived. In the time since we have waited for that birth certificate to come, Mark's life has seen some huge ups and downs. After getting laid off during COVID, Mark ended up living in a tent in Venice. He lost his ID and documents as so many unhoused people do, so he hasn't been able to get another job. I immediately loved Mark, he's funny, kind, incredibly neat, a leader of the tent city community who spent his time mentoring the younger unhoused kids in the area. He's hopeful and grateful. He's had a really interesting, exciting life and never expected to end up where he is. While waiting for his birth certificate, Mark fell in a ditch and seriously injured his leg. He didn't want to go to the hospital because he has no insurance and can't afford to pay any bills, so he stayed in his tent. Sade, one of our LA field staffers, and I checked in on him and brought him
food and water but we couldn't convince him to go to the doctor. One day Sade got a call, his leg had gotten so bad that his friends had wheeled him to the emergency room in a shopping cart. They got him there just in time, he had a bad infection and could have lost his leg if they'd waited any longer.
But some good came out of it. Sade found Mark a place to stay to recover, he's been volunteering at our tabling days and has been incredibly helpful, and now that he finally has his birth certificate, we can take him straight to the DMV to get his ID. We're even going to hire him as an intern at STV.
The last few weeks have been tough. We're working on getting birth certificates from states, countries, and territories that are all pretty hostile to anyone without an ID. I have a new client who is deaf and going through unimaginable hardships as a deaf woman on Skid Row. Election season is in full swing in Los Angeles County and many, many people running for office are actively hostile to the unhoused. We also have freezing temperatures in Texas, a massive list of students who need ID in Detroit, and a transportation problem in rural West Virginia. But, our staff is tackling these issues with more energy and verve than you would expect at the tail end of a long pandemic. Our new field staff in Detroit, Shreveport, Orlando, and Ft. Worth have jumped in with both feet and are already getting IDs and making community connections. We have several big new partnerships that will allow us to reach even more people, and our 501c4, Project ID Action Fund ([link removed]) , is actively
endorsing and supporting pro-ID and pro-housing candidates.
At the end of the second month of 2022 I am completely and utterly exhausted but also fully hopeful about what this year will bring. As always, we cannot do it without your help, but with you, we can continue to do great things.
Thanks so much,
Kat
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