Ben Bond, Lexington, KY - Homelessness and Voting

Recognizing that homelessness is becoming more and more of a problem in the U.S. and that voting rights for people without homes have been challenged by some politicians in Kentucky, we’re presenting a series of short interviews on our blog, interviewing people who are or have been homeless. 

"I'm a lot of things.  I'm a father, a son, a brother, and I'm educated.  And yeah, not too long ago I didn't have a home."

We met Ben after a performance of the play "Please Don't Call Me Homeless, I Don't Call You Homed" organized by the Catholic Action Center at the Kentucky Theater.  Most of the actors in the play are people who previously have lived on the street.  Ben Bond was one of the actors – and a particularly good one.

"I went to UK during a time when we didn't yet have any African American professors or administrators and that was a very hard time.  There was a lot of racism and it took a lot to fight that."

Ben went on after that to work in the Washington, DC school system and served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1963 to 1967 and has worked in a lot of other jobs throughout his life. But he says that the economy is in pretty bad shape right now, even for someone with experience.

"This country isn't in very good economic situation," he says.  "I see more homeless people on the street every month and a lot of them were middle class not long before that." 

"Homelessness is coming." 

"I'm afraid it's coming to more people than anyone expects – and not a lot of people who end up on the streets are going to see it coming." 

When asked about recent pushes to make it harder for people without a legal address to register to vote, Ben had a lot to say.

"Being involved in the political process is important to me," he said right off.  "I've been a Republican for most of my life and I even ran for city council in Lexington once. I've always voted in the same location on the street that I grew up on here in Lexington."

"When you don't have a home, it's hard to get food, it's hard to get shelter, sometimes it's hard to stay warm or get healthy.  Let's not make it harder to vote, too.

"Like me, a lot of people living on the street have served this country in the military. You should let everyone vote, but it seems especially harsh to target us."