MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Rain, shine and even near freezing temperatures are not stopping Eric Overstreet from fulfilling his goal of living “homeless on purpose.”
Overstreet has lived under a bridge on I-65 Service Road since Oct. 1 in an attempt to understand the perspective of someone who is homeless and determine what resources are needed to get them the proper help.
“It’s very lonely, very isolated, very sad, very cold and very dirty,” said Overstreet.
Overstreet has been sharing videos on Facebook and TikTok of the things and people he encounters every day on his journey and a few of them have been attracting a lot of attention.
“I’ve gotten really involved in their lives,” said Overstreet. “I got a couple people going to rehab today so that’s been the journey for me just meeting the people.”
One video has received more than 70,000 views and because of his documented journey, someone has offered to donate an 8,000-square-foot warehouse for homeless people to use as we start seeing cooler temperatures.
He said even though his journey has been hard, this is all a part of his plan to spread the word and find ways to assist people who live in these unstable conditions.
“My personal journey is changing me like it’s breaking me for real and I needed that,” said Overstreet. “We all need that every once and awhile, just to humble ourselves and make ourselves small. It’s a tough life, it’s tougher than I want to do and I’m not looking forward to the rest of it for real, but I’m going to make it.”
His goal is to raise $20,000 in pledges depending on how long he can remain homeless. The proceeds will go to Driftwood Housing, a nonprofit that constructs tiny shelters for the homeless. So far, he has received about $16,000 in donations.
“They really do wanna be off the streets, like a lot of people say they wanna be here, there’s nobody that wants to be here… nobody,” said Overstreet.
Click here to follow Overstreet’s 90 day ‘homeless on purpose’ journey.