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Series: Pathways To Homelessness

Courtesy of Aaron Draper
Photographer Aaron Draper's "Underexposed" series documents people experiencing homelessness throughout Northern California. Learn more about his photo project later in this "Pathways series" as well as at http://underexposed.world/.

NSPR’s "Pathways To Homelessness" series airs March 6–10 at 6:45 a.m. & 4:44 p.m.

There is no one path to becoming homeless. The experience is not reserved for any one type of person, any one choice, or any one circumstance. For this series, North State Public Radio’s Sarah Bohannon talked to five people connected to the issue to explore the many roads that can lead to a person becoming homeless. 

1. Anita Yarbrough: Guest at the Torres Community Shelter 

At the time of this conversation, Anita Yarbrough had been staying at the Torres Community Shelter in Chico for a little more than a month. She said her experience being homeless started when she came to California from Georgia to be with her 19-year-old daughter who had been hospitalized. Yarbrough said upon her arrival she came to learn that her daughter had post-traumatic stress disorder and had been suffering from domestic abuse and post-partum depression for some time. Wanting to stay and help her daughter, Yarbrough decided to remain in California even if it meant not having a job or a home.

Yarbrough said her experience has led her to see homelessness in a different light after not only witnessing her own story, but hearing the many stories of the people she's been living alongside at the shelter. 

2. Jonathan Anderson: Executive Director of the Good News Rescue Mission

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Originally aired 3/7/17

Jonathan Anderson said it’s very hard to narrow down the many reasons a person can become homeless, but he said there are some common contributing factors he sees often in his work at the Good News Rescue Mission in Redding. He said the factors mainly include drug use and a term he called "generational homelessness," but to a lesser extent, he said it can also sometimes be due to purely economic factors or traumatic events, which he said can affect people from any economic or educational background. 

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Jonathan Anderson talks about why he believes a lack of a positive social network is the root cause to homelessness.

Anderson said he personally believes there is one root cause to every situation involving homelessness that he’s seen: a lack of a positive social network. 

3. Laura Cootsona: Executive Director of the Jesus Center

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Originally aired 3/8/17

Laura Cootsona said while a large population of those experiencing homelessness at the Jesus Center in Chico have been diagnosed with mental illness or have a drug addiction, many who walk through the doors of the Jesus Center have done so due to other factors.

Cootsona said she sees homelessness as the symptom or final result of many often small decisions or traumas that differ greatly from person to person.

4. Brad Montgomery: Executive Director of the Torres Community Shelter 

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Originally aired 3/9/17

Throughout his work Brad Montgomery has met thousands of people experiencing homelessness and has heard many of those people's stories. He said despite the large number of stories he's heard, he's never heard two that were the same. 

5. Aaron Draper: Photographer

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Draper’s photographic exhibition of photos – called Underexposed – is currently on display through March at the Butte College Art Gallery.

Aaron Draper is a photographer who has photographed more than 100 people experiencing homelessness in Northern California, including in San Francisco, Modesto, Grass Valley, Chico and Oroville. He said creating this project has helped him shed light on the many ways a person can become homeless.

Draper’s photographic exhibition of photos – called Underexposed – is currently on display through March at the Butte College Art Gallery

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