ABSTRACT
Picture the Homeless (PTH) was founded by, and is led by, homeless people in New York City. PTH is an organization whose work is based on the principle that in order to end homelessness, people who are homeless must organize to effectively make systemic change because homelessness is rooted in economic injustice. Picture the Homeless upholds the idea that homeless people have civil and human rights regardless of race, creed, color, or economic status, and our mission as an organization is to protect those rights. As a base-building membership organization of homeless and formerly homeless individuals and families, people utilize community organizing and leadership development to make social change. Having a right to shelter and no right to housing creates a bottleneck. PTH is committed to empowering homeless folks and those who had been homeless in the past to lead the charge. It strives to change public discourse and philosophies around homelessness instead of simply offering services to those homeless.
