Will Lawlor, a man who does outreach on the streets of Providence, writes the poignant stories of others regularly to draw attention to the plight that so many people suffer as a result of being homeless. Writing and sharing these stories is also an outlet for him.

In his words, “Seeing and hearing the sad, horrible situations I encounter do not make good, easy, welcoming conversation with anyone. I write it because I have nowhere to go with it. I absorb all of the pain and suffering myself. I write it down. I struggle with the situations that I would like to alleviate and, after tossing it around in my mind and heart I always come up with the same answer: I don’t have one. I guess I feel that if I write about the suffering that homeless people go through, I can get rid of that pain; I can lay it out on paper and then be free of all the images in my head. But that’s hardly the case. I wish it were that simple...

To read the entire article, visit "Truths From the Man in the Streets"  written by Ralph Davis and featured in "Street Sights - Shedding Lights on Homelessness in Rhode Island".