Sergei's Story
By Tiffani N.
Check out Sergei's interview here or learn more about the Invisible People Organization here! It’s his 18th birthday and he’s spending it on the streets of Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s his first night, so the confusion and despair is obvious on his face. He almost doesn’t even believe that he is where he is right now. His bright blue eyes are saddened and reveal feelings of rejection and hurt from having to be forced into this ordeal. The worry drawn on his face is evident. He doesn’t know where to go, what to do, and how to get himself out of this situation. He is lost. |
Behind him lie hills of green grass. There is a single truck parked on the road farther back. In the distance, tall buildings are partially hidden by trees. Sergei stands there during the interview with Mark Horvath, creator of Invisible People, with nothing more than the clothes on his back, a backpack with only things he can carry, and a look of disbelief across his face.
He just came from a Wilderness Therapy Program called Second Nature in Duchesne, Utah, and is now trying to get back home to California. “My mom basically said that once you turn eighteen, you’re on your own.” says Sergei in a quiet and somber tone of voice. Now, 18 and stranded, he must find a way to make it on his own, starting with trying to search for a place to sleep for the night - where exactly, he doesn’t know. He only has the dark, black jacket on his back, and the few other things that fit into the dull blue-and-green backpack he carries. Being his first day on the street, he is unsure exactly how to act and what to make of his current situation. Sergei hopes to get back to his normal life somehow, to find his way back to California and be able to finish high school, but his face shows the hopelessness that lies underneath. He has no money and no place to go. When asked what he would wish for if he were granted three wishes, he replies, “That my father was still alive, to see my sisters, and to get home.”
Mark Horvath is left speechless and shocked, not knowing what to say to Sergei after he hears about his troubling story. He isn’t able to continue with the interview much longer, disheartened about what he is hearing. Mark Horvath writes, “I became emotional and didn’t get much information. To me, just the look on his face was enough to feel his pain and get some understanding.” He recalls the time when he first spotted Sergei on the streets. He approached Sergei and offered to give him a pair of socks. When Sergei responded by saying that he didn’t have any money to buy the socks, Mark realized just how new and inexperienced Sergei was to life on the streets. Mark writes, “Today my heart was broken.”
The Invisible People Organization yearns to bring awareness to this important issue that is homelessness, currently facing our country. By traveling across the country to meet and interview the homeless everywhere, this organization allows people to understand each person’s individual story and view homelessness through another perspective. There are countless more stories about teens like Sergei that nobody knows about. By documenting these profiles of the homeless, they are given a voice, and can no longer be considered the “invisible people.”
People everywhere have heard of Sergei’s unfortunate story. People everywhere now want to help. Comments left from people touched by Sergei’s story express their feelings of wanting to help him, as well as others that are experiencing homelessness. One person writes, “I can only wish Sergei the best in his journey to find his family in California. Hope he can find help in SLC to point him in the right direction and that he can stay safe.” Another says, “I have contacted a few sources in Salt Lake City to help look for Sergei. God knows I really want to and will help Sergei get back to California, I can buy him ticket and food and many more…” Sergei’s tale influenced and affected all those who were willing to listen. It has encouraged thousands to take action and stand up for those in need. The Invisible People Organization states that it “goes beyond the rhetoric, statistics, political debates, and limitations of social services to examine poverty in America via a medium that audiences of all ages can understand, and can’t ignore.” How are you supposed to hear about a story about a homeless individual in need of desperate help and not want to do something about it? These stories are reaching out to groups of people who have never completely realized the true extent of the problem with homelessness. Seeing real faces, hearing their actual voices and imagining what life would be like in their shoes; this is what touched people and made them want to reach out. The exposure caused by sharing the personal stories of these homeless individuals will show them that they are not alone and there are people out there who want to help. The growing awareness launched by Sergei’s story, as well as the stories of many others, is changing the very way in which we will forever view the “homeless.”
He just came from a Wilderness Therapy Program called Second Nature in Duchesne, Utah, and is now trying to get back home to California. “My mom basically said that once you turn eighteen, you’re on your own.” says Sergei in a quiet and somber tone of voice. Now, 18 and stranded, he must find a way to make it on his own, starting with trying to search for a place to sleep for the night - where exactly, he doesn’t know. He only has the dark, black jacket on his back, and the few other things that fit into the dull blue-and-green backpack he carries. Being his first day on the street, he is unsure exactly how to act and what to make of his current situation. Sergei hopes to get back to his normal life somehow, to find his way back to California and be able to finish high school, but his face shows the hopelessness that lies underneath. He has no money and no place to go. When asked what he would wish for if he were granted three wishes, he replies, “That my father was still alive, to see my sisters, and to get home.”
Mark Horvath is left speechless and shocked, not knowing what to say to Sergei after he hears about his troubling story. He isn’t able to continue with the interview much longer, disheartened about what he is hearing. Mark Horvath writes, “I became emotional and didn’t get much information. To me, just the look on his face was enough to feel his pain and get some understanding.” He recalls the time when he first spotted Sergei on the streets. He approached Sergei and offered to give him a pair of socks. When Sergei responded by saying that he didn’t have any money to buy the socks, Mark realized just how new and inexperienced Sergei was to life on the streets. Mark writes, “Today my heart was broken.”
The Invisible People Organization yearns to bring awareness to this important issue that is homelessness, currently facing our country. By traveling across the country to meet and interview the homeless everywhere, this organization allows people to understand each person’s individual story and view homelessness through another perspective. There are countless more stories about teens like Sergei that nobody knows about. By documenting these profiles of the homeless, they are given a voice, and can no longer be considered the “invisible people.”
People everywhere have heard of Sergei’s unfortunate story. People everywhere now want to help. Comments left from people touched by Sergei’s story express their feelings of wanting to help him, as well as others that are experiencing homelessness. One person writes, “I can only wish Sergei the best in his journey to find his family in California. Hope he can find help in SLC to point him in the right direction and that he can stay safe.” Another says, “I have contacted a few sources in Salt Lake City to help look for Sergei. God knows I really want to and will help Sergei get back to California, I can buy him ticket and food and many more…” Sergei’s tale influenced and affected all those who were willing to listen. It has encouraged thousands to take action and stand up for those in need. The Invisible People Organization states that it “goes beyond the rhetoric, statistics, political debates, and limitations of social services to examine poverty in America via a medium that audiences of all ages can understand, and can’t ignore.” How are you supposed to hear about a story about a homeless individual in need of desperate help and not want to do something about it? These stories are reaching out to groups of people who have never completely realized the true extent of the problem with homelessness. Seeing real faces, hearing their actual voices and imagining what life would be like in their shoes; this is what touched people and made them want to reach out. The exposure caused by sharing the personal stories of these homeless individuals will show them that they are not alone and there are people out there who want to help. The growing awareness launched by Sergei’s story, as well as the stories of many others, is changing the very way in which we will forever view the “homeless.”