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The big problem with homeless people is that
people now just ignore them. They’ve become
invisible because there are so many of them.
“What shocked me the most I think
is health insurance,” she said. “A lot of
of people get very ill or have an illness
that needs to be treated. The bill came
because they didn’t have health insur-ance
and they ended up having a lot of
different financial difficulties and ended
up losing their house.That’s something
we should never have to worry about.”
Guimaraes also met several people
coping with mental illness. A man she
met at the event was diagnosed with
bipolar disorder and was struggling to
cope. Though he was able to find a job
after moving into a homeless shelter, the
position pays only $7 an hour, making it
difficult for him to save up for an apart-ment
or other essentials.
“The big problem with homeless
people is that people now just ignore
them,” she said. “They’ve become invis-ible
because there are so many of them.”
New York City has struggled to prevent
the homeless population from rising. In
October 2017, there were 62,963 home-less
people sleeping in the city’s shelter
system. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
an initiative called Turning the Tide on
Homelessness in February 2017, which
aims to keep more New Yorkers in their
homes and provide services to those who
aren’t able to avoid the shelter system.
The book is only one part of Guima-raes’
larger initiative to help the home-less,
called The Nylon Project. She aims
to turn the project into a “flagship for
awareness for all of these different
foundations that sometimes homeless
people don’t even know exist.”
She’s partnering with Urban Path-ways,
a nonprofit that helps homeless
New Yorkers move into permanent hous-ing,
Alexandria House, a transitional
residence for women and children in
Los Angeles, and other organizations
catering to homeless people.
Guimaraes is hoping to expand The
Nylon Project to cities and countries
around the world. Half of the proceeds
from “#ItCanBeYou” will go directly to
these organizations and 50 percent will
help run other Nylon Project initiatives.
“I think that the more people this book
reaches, especially the millenials who look
up to these influencers, we’re really just
hoping that more people become com-passionate
about this cause,” she said.
“#ItCanBeYou” does not have an of-ficial
release date but will be available on
Amazon and the book's accompanying
website no later than Jan. 20.
For more information, visit
www.thenylonproject1.com or the
project’s Facebook and Instagram
pages @thenylonproject1.
JORDANA GUIMARAES
Founder of The Nylon Project
Melissa Molinaro/ Julia Faria / @juliadeck Thania Peck / @catcherinthestyle
@melissamolinaro
36 JANUARY 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
