Interview with Izzy Muñoz
By Matsu Momii
My name is Israel, formerly houseless in one of the many cities of the USA. I am a part of Homefulnness, which is a solution to homelessnes. We are going on a tour looking for different ways we can help Mother Earth and find out how we can get solutions for houseless people in different states. Laws in some states are more racist and that creates lots of houselessness.
Salt Lake City is weird because I don’t see a lot of people. I come from the big city, Mexico City, with a lot of people. Then to come here, where I don’t see any people that are houseless.
Denver, I lived here before. When I was here, I was a bartender. Now there are a lot of people. It used to be a small city with a very tiny downtown, but it has grown bigger, expanded. You used to be able to walk from one side to another side of town easily. Now you cannot do that.
When people come to the USA, it is a big lie that you can make a lot of money. They never tell you how you can do it. They don’t tell you that you have to work from the rooster to the cricket. It is a saying that you work from morning to night. They don’t tell you you have to pay for every single thing. They don’t tell you you have to live on top of each other. So as time passes, you come into agreements, you come to be separate from your family. You know, it‘s hard to live with a family because your brother and his wife need privacy. When you move out and you don’t have enough to pay rent or bills, you end up on the street.
I was houseless in SF because I did not have enough money to pay rent and bills. When families from different countries come to the USA, a lot of people ask, “Why did you come to America?” I say, “I came to the USA.” The USA is a country not a continent. Lots of people ask me why did you come to America? I didn’t come to America. America is a continent. The President asks, “Why do people come to America? My response is that even the President, who goes to night school, does not know that.
When I was houseless in San Francisco, one of many USA cities, it was very hard to stay on the streets because the police and the DPW, city departments of public works and transportation, come and clean the streets. Then, they take your stuff. Also, you constantly have to sleep in the daytime because it is very dangerous at night time. Not only for the people, but also for the police. They constantly move you around and harass you. You have to move back and forth every single day.
How did I get out of the situation? I found Homefulness through a referral I met on the street. Then I went to Homefulness and I took classes. They teach many classes on how the government does people wrong and you learn things that public school doesn’t teach you. Homefulness works to help more houseless people. They teach rights because a lot of people don’t know their rights. They don’t have the time to study because they are working a lot and when they become houseless, they don’t know what to say to the police. They don’t know their rights and the police take advantage of that.