HOMELESS NATION . ORG

The Homeless Nation is Canada's only website created by and for Homeless Canadians. Through a national network of outreach workers, The Homeless Nation Project is dedicated to providing the tools for homeless Canadians to share their stories, unique philosophies and points of view with other Canadians. As well, this site provides an opportunity for the general public to interact and learn more about Canada's homeless population.

Homelessnation.org is produced through a non-profit Canadian organization, Homeless Street Archive. It was formed in 2002 in Montreal by filmmaker Daniel Cross, who had just finished completing the documentary films "The Street: A Film With The Homeless" and "SPIT: Squeegee Punks In Traffic". Having met hundreds of people from the street community across the country, Daniel searched for a way to present as many people's experience as possible, without the need for the editing process that often left left stories on the cutting room floor. It became clear that the web provided a direction for a more participatory and inclusive approach to media.

With a beta release in 2005, and this official release in April 2006, the Homeless Nation is now a national project, with outreach teams in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. These teams work in shelters, day centers, and on the streets, actively engaging the street community to share their stories and participate on the site. Each user creates their own unique web page and email address. Outreach teams also record location-specifc videoblogs with interested members, posting these on the site immediately.

above picture - Daniel Cross