HOMELESS REALITIES | Immersive project by JOVRNALISM

Lens + JOVRNALISM

Using Snapchat’s Lens Studio, JOVRNALISM created augmented reality experiences about homelessness in Los Angeles and made the accessible through Snapchat.
Training

The Fall 2018 JOVRNALISM class worked with select members of the homeless community to train them on how to tell their own stories through 360/VR.

Featured Stories

Here are the diverse collections of stories about homelessness in the Los Angeles Area.

Jennifer: Surviving tent life with kindness

AR • Featured • Stories

She used to have a job, a house and a marriage with children. Now she lives in a park and she is trying to make peace with it. When Jennifer Flores, 42, lays in her tent
Antelope Valley: Building a life underground

Featured • Stories

The Antelope Valley is located in northern Los Angeles County and is home to more than 3,600 homeless residents, but only contains one shelter with just 100 beds.

First-Person • Stories

Angela: Homeless, not hopeless

Angela Ade, a dog trainer in Venice Beach, spends her weekends at her sanctuary. It’s not a church or a community center, but a quiet side street in West LA
First-Person • Stories

Eric: Can’t stop moving – forward

Eric West never stops moving. He moved to Los Angeles with his family without a job and eventually found himself homeless and alone after a falling out with the mother
First-Person • Stories

Tim and Daisy: Romance on the street

They first met on the Metro when her bike was busted and he knew how to fix it. Boy meets girl.
First-Person • Stories

Brian: Staying busy, staying out of trouble

Brian Sicurella’s journey to his home along the Los Angeles River has been rocky.
First-Person • Stories

Silkiie: Trying to get a gig

Denise “Silkiie” Harris says she wants to work, but opportunities to play her music are hard to come by. Silkiie is a piano player and singer who has been
First-Person • Stories

Tabia: “Art is my salvation”

“Art keeps me sane,” said Tabia Salimu as she shared her latest tissue art piece at Studio 526, a community arts center located in Los Angeles’ Skid Row

Blog

The latest news and information about the Homeless Realities project. Read more posts

02/11/2019 • Blog, News

Event: Public premiere of Homeless Realities at...

While some of the project has been published via Al Jazeera’s Contrast VR and across
02/07/2019 • News

Homeless Realities: 2 million views in one...

Thanks to the support from Al Jazeera’s Contrast VR and AJ+, which published four of our
12/31/2018 • Blog

AR Journalism: Homeless Realities AR experiences

In addition to powerful journalism stories, the Fall 2018 JOVRNALISM course explored photogrammetry
12/31/2018 • Blog, News

USC students produce Homeless Realities

Every semester the JOVRANLISM™ hackathon-style course based at USC Annenberg creates an
12/21/2018 • Blog, News

Contrast VR launches JOVRNALISM stories

We partnered with Al Jazeera’s Contrast VR’s My People, Our Stories to publish some of
12/11/2018 • News, Stories

Immersive storytelling for the unstable housing community

Originally published NOV. 30, 2018:

Project partners.

Crew

Meet the Fall 2018 JOVRNALISM students who produced the Homeless Realities Project.

Angela Ade

Dog Trainer
ALEX ANDREJEV

Student
Jennifer Flores

Resident
MORGAN GRIMM

Student
Denise “Silkiie” Harris

Musician
CLAIRE HEDDLES

Student
Daisy Kukuruza

In Love
Alex (ZIJIAN) LI

Student
RAJA VENKATAPATHY MANI

Student
GRACE MANTHEY

Student
CEREN ONEY

Student
RACHEL PARSONS

Student
SARA RIGATELLI

Student
JESSE RYAN

Student
Queen Mama Tabia Salimu

Artist
ADI SHAH

Student
CHAITANYA SHAH

Student
Brian Sicurella

Photographer
Tim Sterry

In Love
RICHARD TAMAYO

Student
Eric West

Filmmaker
RUBY (KAIDI) YUAN

Student
ROBERT HERNANDEZ

Professor

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