{"id":67,"date":"2018-01-26T15:56:52","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/tellingstories\/?page_id=67"},"modified":"2019-07-18T14:07:39","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T18:07:39","slug":"profile-brandy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/tellingstories\/profile-brandy\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile: Brandy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>By Eldad Cano<\/h3>\n<h6>December 4, 2017<\/h6>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Profile - Brandy By Eldad Cano\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uAWK_kwV_UM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A cluster of people gathered across from Union Square Park. They are looking at Brandy, a 22 year old homeless woman, who, despite the harsh and bitter winds, made sure that all her kittens were kept warm. She kept a shopping cart beside her filled with her cat\u2019s daily necessities as she kept the cats from wandering off. People of all ages stopped to witness the infamous critters the \u201cCat Lady\u201d possessed, most petting and carrying them around while others commented that \u00a0they \u201chate when homeless people risk animal\u2019s lives just so people can pity them.\u201d But Brandy didn&#8217;t care . The only thing Brandy wanted to make clear is that the cats aren\u2019t for sale. \u201cPeople get mad at me that I wouldn\u2019t sell my animals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coming from Staten Island, Brandy ran away home and hit the streets at age 15. Her drug addicted parents made it difficult for Brandy to live a normal childhood. She \u201cdidn&#8217;t want to be around anymore,\u201d and says her \u201clife was kinda getting destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ever since then, Brandy has battled through the streets of New York. \u201cI could take of myself,\u201d she thought, \u201cI know how to survive.\u201d She met and married the love of her life and they have a four year old daughter. Although losing partial parental rights for their daughter, Brandy remains hopeful that she and her husband will become stable enough that they\u2019ll be reunited with her. Right now she lives with her sister in law. \u201cEverything happens for a reason, whether it\u2019s to teach us a lesson or make us stronger,\u201d Brandy says. \u201cIt\u2019ll all make sense soon enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brandy returns everyday to the same corner, standing next to the same sign, with the same goal in mind. Next to her, a sign reads \u201cMY CAT HAD HER KITTENS! Trying To Make Enough For The Nessesities. Gift Cards Most Helpfull, But Anything Helps!!\u201d \u00a0She wants to understand why people judge her though knowing nothing about her life. \u201cI\u2019ve been rescuing animals my whole life. I used to have a partnership at an animal rescue. I\u2019m just in a hard situation right now\u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brandy tears up when reminiscing about her first cat, who was stolen from her just three days prior. He was the father of the two kittens she has now, \u201cThat cat was my life\u2026 I\u2019ve sat there and went hungry and cold to keep him fed for years. It\u2019s really ripping my life apart.\u201d The cats are therapeutic for her and motivates her to keep going.<\/p>\n<h4>PHIL<\/h4>\n<p>As Washington Square Park becomes windier and colder, the walk you used to take to class turns into a scurry. \u00a0But if you decide to acknowledge the two bodies snuggled on top of the steaming \u201cgrill\u201d next to the Silver Building entrance, you\u2019ll notice a man and woman, bundled up in many layers. They sit silently on pieces of cardboard with no sign in sight. The woman doesn\u2019t want to talk, but Phil grins and takes a puff of the tiny cigarette that struggled to stay lit in his trembling hand.<\/p>\n<p>Phil, 54, was born and raised in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He lived with his family in their home until his cousins sold the house and kicked him out this past summer. Not knowing what else to do, he went to a homeless shelter. But not for long. \u201cThey weren&#8217;t giving me a bed, \u00a0they were making me sleep in a seat all night long.\u201dAfter three days in the tortuous state of the shelter, Phil took to the streets again. \u201cI had to get out of there I couldn&#8217;t stand it there. Everyone was in their own little world,\u201d he says. Pointing to the woman beside him Phil states, \u201cI came here to be warm because I know she\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil attended \u00a0Catholic school and grew up very religious. But he says his views have changed. \u00a0\u201cI believe in God but I believe he\u2019s torturing me for something. He wants me to do some purpose that I\u2019m unable to do.\u201d Phil believes homelessness has caused him to evolve for the better, seeing things he would have never noticed and interpreting humanity itself in an entirely new way. \u201cEveryone&#8217;s afraid they might end up this way because everyone\u2019s one step away from being homeless,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the few who are rude at times to him and the other homeless, Phil believes, \u201cyou can always trust in the kindness of strangers.\u201d It\u2019s clear he is grateful for all that has happened in his life.<\/p>\n<h4>GUY<\/h4>\n<p>On the downtown side of Union Square is a giant digital clock whose 15 digits encode the passing moments. A man in a green trenchcoat stares at it from his perch on a rocky ledge His name is Guy, but he also goes by \u201cTraveler\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Now 35, Guy says it took him 2 and a half years to travel from an unknown location, and almost the entire United States to get him to where he is now, watching the clock above him. He says he likes \u201cwriting signs and seeing if people actually answer to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Guy considers himself a minister whose duty is to help all those who need him. \u201cI find other people in the same place that I am and help them with what I have leftover.\u201d He talks about sharing all types of advice with the variety of people he meets. \u201cMy main motto is never give up, never back down, and whenever you fall down get back up and keep trying regardless of how hard something seems.\u201d Guy plans on continuing east, perhaps even facing his fear of water and using the paddles someone gave him as a gift to perhaps travel far east into Asia considering \u201cit\u2019s directly across from New York.\u201d \u00a0For now, Guy will remain seated and impatiently wait for the right time when he will be needed again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Eldad Cano December 4, 2017 A cluster of people gathered across from Union Square Park. They are looking at Brandy, a 22 year old homeless woman, who, despite the harsh and bitter winds, made sure that all her kittens were kept warm. She kept a shopping cart beside her filled with her cat\u2019s daily &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/tellingstories\/profile-brandy\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Profile: Brandy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Profile: Brandy - Telling Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/tellingstories\/profile-brandy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Profile: Brandy - Telling Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Eldad Cano December 4, 2017 A cluster of people gathered across from Union Square Park. 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They are looking at Brandy, a 22 year old homeless woman, who, despite the harsh and bitter winds, made sure that all her kittens were kept warm. 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