We see people experiencing homelessness all the time.
Or perhaps that is the problem.
They become so familiar within the landscape of a city that we stop seeing them as individuals. Eventually, they can begin to look like another bench, storefront or obstacle between us and wherever we are trying to go.
But would that change if the person sitting on the sidewalk were someone you loved?
That is the question behind a homeless social experiment from the New York City Rescue Mission.
Would You Notice Someone You Love?
For the “Make Them Visible” campaign, organizers secretly place people along New York City sidewalks while disguised as homeless.
Then their relatives walk directly past them.
These are not distant cousins they last encountered at an awkward family reunion. The participants pass mothers, brothers, wives and other people they know intimately.
Yet none of them recognizes the person sitting only a few feet away.
The experiment does not prove that the participants are cruel or uncaring. In fact, the video first shows them speaking warmly about the relatives they later overlook.
That contrast is what makes the results so uncomfortable.
The issue is not that they do not love their families.
They simply do not expect to see someone they love sitting on the street.
When People Become Part of the Scenery
Most people do not walk through a city carefully studying every face.
We move with a destination in mind. We think about work, appointments, text messages, traffic and the approximately 47 other things competing for our attention.
Looking away can also become a form of self-protection.
We may feel uncomfortable. We may not know what to say or whether giving money will help. We may fear being manipulated, delayed or drawn into a situation we cannot solve.
So we keep walking.
Eventually, not looking becomes automatic.
The people on the sidewalk do not disappear, of course. We simply train ourselves not to see them.
The New York City Rescue Mission’s campaign asks viewers to interrupt that habit. Its larger goal is not merely to create a shocking video, but to remind us that every person we overlook has relationships, preferences, memories and a story.
In other words, the person is still a person even when we do not recognize the face.
Making the Invisible Visible
Awareness alone will not solve homelessness.
Noticing someone does not provide housing, employment, treatment or long-term support.
However, it is difficult to care for people we have reduced to background scenery.
The first step may not require a grand solution.
It may begin with looking at someone long enough to remember that he or she is not simply “the homeless.”
That person is somebody’s child, sibling, spouse, parent or friend.
And under different circumstances, the person could be ours.
Watch the homeless social experiment below.
Learn more about the campaign and the work of the New York City Rescue Mission.