Being Homeless Ain’t Cheap: Man Offers Three-Day Homeless Experience for $2,000
By Ms. Purple on October 7th, 2013
“You can’t really understand another person’s experience
until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” One man took this saying
literally when he decided to give the ultimate homeless experience to
anyone curious to see what it’s like to live on the streets of Seattle
and willing to pay $2,000 for it.
Mike Momany was a freelance computer programmer
conducting his business from an RV when he began to notice that living
in Seattle was becoming a luxury. Inspired by the ever-rising costs of
the big cities and the minimalist movement, he took two months off in
the summer of 2013 to see what it was like not having a roof over his
head. After experiencing life as a homeless himself, Mike decided to
allow other privileged people who still had a home to do the same by giving
them a three-day “Course in Applied Homelessness”, as he calls
it.
Before the start of the actual homelessness course, Momany insists on a preliminary interview to assess his and the participant’s
compatibility and to make sure that the person knows exactly what
they’re getting themselves into. If all goes well, the tour begins with
different activities planned for each of the three days. On the first
day, the participant will be given a new persona along with a disguise
tat that will give them that genuine homeless look. They will then cruise
around town visiting all the “favored homeless spots” before retiring for
the night in a homeless shelter. The shelter Momany is currently working
with does not allow ladies, making him unable to share the lifestyle
with women (he plans on changing this soon).
For the second day, he
suggests trying “panhandling or sleeping on a park bench” to get a real
feel of how people view the homeless. After some more sightseeing, it’s
time for free meals and after trying the Fare Start chef program, the
tour ends with a night stroll until 3 a.m. and cocktails in the morning
to discuss and celebrate having gone through the homeless experience.
Photo: Facebook
Is this crash course worth $2,000? Momany believes so.
“It’s to bring an experience to people they can’t get very easily,” he
explains. “It’s really not to make money.” Although there haven’t been
any takers yet, his concept has been harshly criticized. “I’m worried
about the homeless being exploited for profit and individual gain. Not
the money itself,” one woman wrote on his Facebook page,
while another stated that “Homeless people are not exhibits.” Mike
answered that although he’d like to be able to make a living off this
idea, the course is purely educational and that $2,000 is not that much
considering he also offers protection and insight into the homeless
etiquette. Furthermore, he states that some of the money will be donated
to all the homeless hot-spots they visit during the tour as well as to
the aforementioned shelter.
Photo: Nicholas D./Flickr
Although Momany’s initiative might seem bizarre, some
people see it as a great educational opportunity. One young sociology
student even asked him to arrange a tour for her and other women who are
too afraid to tackle this experience without any protection or
guidance. Famous people have embraced the homelessness experience
concept in the past. Back in 2009, Prince William himself spent a night
on the cold pavement of a London alley to get the full on experience. ”I
hope that by deepening my understanding of the issue, I can help do my
bit to help the most vulnerable on our streets,” he said at the time.
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