Plays Give Homeless People a Voice, Aim to Show ‘Humanity’ of Those Without Shelter

See a series of free plays written by people who have had brushes – or worse – with homelessness beginning Friday at the San Diego Central Library.

Continuing through Sunday, “Stories of CREED in Action” will feature narratives, performed by professional actors, of individuals who have faced homelessness with both resilience and humor.

The presentations are the culmination of playwriting residencies offered to Father Joe’s Villages in collaboration with Playwrights Project, an organization dedicated to empowering people to voice their stories through theatre.

Father Joe’s clients were guided by humanities adviser Ken Saragosa, a PEN America literary award winner with firsthand experience of homelessness in San Diego.

The plays are open to the public at the library’s Neil Morgan Auditorium. RSVP online.

Each program will feature the plays and a panel discussion on topics related to homelessness:

• 7 p.m. Friday – Discussion, “We Are Neighbors,” highlighting shared missions and services of Father Joe’s and the Central Library.
• 7 p.m. Saturday – Discussion, “Finding a Home,” on the transition to finding a home and resources that are available.
• 2 p.m. Sunday – Discussion, “the Transformative Power of Art and Connection.”

There will be an additional show at 2 p.m. June 28 as part of the American Library Association’s National Library Conference in San Diego.

“Through ‘Stories of CREED in Action,’ we seek to highlight the humanity underlying the homelessness crisis and inspire meaningful change within our community,” Project Director Aleta Barthell said.

Humanities For All, a competitive grant program of California Humanities, supported the “CREED” project.