I take this as my chosen family
Faith Flotman (38) lives on a street corner outside Parliament. Although they did not want to go into detail about how they ended up living on the streets, Flotman said, “What brought me to the street was circumstances at home”, even though it had been “a good house”.
“Things get tough,” they said succinctly. (Flotman’s pronouns are they and them.)
Flotman is notably positive about life on this street.
“On the streets, you’re more free. You live the way you want to live.”
Flotman dons long hair and expertly applied makeup, and added that coming from the streets did not mean one had to “look like the streets”.
“We survive,” they said.
Although Flotman does have family, and confessed to still having love for them, they have found community with the unhoused people they share this humble street with: “I take this as my chosen family.”
The feeling of freedom that they described was attributed to the sense of solidarity they felt with this chosen family.
“We understand each other,” said Flotman. “We’ve got the free will to talk to each other if we’ve got a problem.”
Despite understanding that trust in the government was important, Flotman was not sure how to feel towards the state and, in particular, the police, which they described as being harsher since the Parliament fire.
“There’s no more ‘serve and protect’,” they said, explaining that unhoused people could not walk past the building without fear.
Flotman found it hard to believe that Mafe even set foot in Parliament, and asked, “Where was the security that time? What happened?” They went on to describe the street dwellers in this area as feeling shaken and scared that something of this nature could happen to them.
“He’s homeless! The [man is] homeless [and] alone, he’s got nothing,” said Flotman. “That is what homeless means. He’s got nothing; he’s got no one.”
Speaking about the government, they elaborated that their trust was waning.
“They make us feel like we can’t trust the system anymore. We cannot trust the cops anymore.”
On the subject of the experiences of unhoused people who fall within different identities, Flotman admitted it had been difficult in the beginning. “They had to get used to us,” they said. “Every day we wake up, you see each other, so they had to accept it.”
For Flotman, the treatment that unhoused people receive at the hands of those who are not living on the streets is disheartening.
“We are treated much differently; we don’t get the same respect as others,” Flotman said. “I wish you could sit here and just watch one time.”
Although Flotman understands that the high crime rate in the country could make citizens feel wary of their community, they are nonetheless hurt when people look at them as if they were criminals.
Flotman described instances when they would be crossing the street at a traffic light, with no intention of begging, and drivers will roll up their windows.
“What does that make you feel?” they ask. Flotman optimistically described the sense of community received from the unhoused people in their street as “the fulfilment of your life”.
“I would like readers to know that people here on the streets, [as] soon as we get to know each other, we start feeling we are family,” they said. “Despite our faults, ups and downs, even here on the streets… But we understand each other.”
He’s homeless!
The [man is] homeless
[and] alone, he’s got nothing,” said Flotman. “That is what homeless means. He’s got nothing;
he’s got no one