Purposes and Objectives
The purpose of my project was to shed light on the reality of homelessness and to reduce the stigma surrounding it. My objectives in doing so included preparing for and creating a podcast where I could interview people who have personally experienced homelessness. The objective in these interviews was to humanize homelessness and discuss credible advancements towards aiding the homeless population.
“The Homelessness Podcast“ + Processes
The idea for The Homelessness Podcast came from my experience working in several capacities with people experiencing homelessness. As I worked with and served individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and as I heard their stories, and saw their smiles and tears was inspired to create a platform to help reduce negative stigma surrounding homelessness.
The focus of the podcast was always learning and respect, so the first steps of preparing to record included extensive research. I wanted to have a credible knowledge of some statistics surrounding homelessness, so I spent a great deal of time reading testimonials from people who have previously experienced homelessness, reading reports of the demographic of homeless people specifically in southeast Idaho.
My next steps included networking among community members, and professionals to connect with people who have experienced homelessness, or have been a close contact for those individuals and families. I was able to speak with the Idaho Falls Police, several homeless shelters, local religious leaders, and several other organizations in order to gain more insight and search for people who would be interested in being interviewed on The Homelessness Podcast
Challenges
Some challenges that occurred in the process of creating The Homelessness Podcast revolved around finding people who were interested in being interviewed. I wanted to be selective in my search for guests for the podcast, and once selected, an issue I ran into was people becoming unavailable to speak to me at our arranged times.
Although these challenges made it difficult to get the podcast running, all of the work that I put into the process was extremely valuable and has prepared the podcast for an impactful launch
Overview
The results of the startup of The Homelessness Podcast have been very fulfilling. As the podcast has been prepared, discussed, and started, the conversations and connections made in the process have already started to accomplish the purpose of it which was to humanize homelessness and reduce stigma surrounding it. While the podcast is still underway, the excitement surrounding it shows the success it is capable of attaining.
Insights/takeaways
Through the process of creating The Homelessness Podcast some of my top takeaways have to do with logistical planning. The amount of work that goes into gathering data and participants for any large project is sometimes the most time consuming element, and that was definitely true of The Homelessness Podcast. My advice for anyone starting a podcast would be to remind yourself often of the purpose of your creation.