Homeward Bound

In her video Homeward Bound, Bear documents the Homeward Bound Community Services, a group of self-supporting homeless citizens who gathered at City Hall Park in 1988 to protest New York City’s housing policies and Mayor Ed Koch’s lack of support for the homeless community. What started as a political action–an overnight vigil in the park–grew into a self-governing, semi-permanent village in the middle of Manhattan, later dubbed ‘Kochville’. Members of the “village” talk to Bear about how they self-organize by sharing resources and distributing supplies, and guard and support one another. As one member, Walter Shepard, a.k.a. “Speedy” says, “We have a lot of hostility in this camp but we have a lot of love also; the world should know that.” The overnight vigil was originally organized by the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing is an alliance of religious groups in New York City focused on advocating with and for the homeless communities in the city and is still active today.