OXNARD — The Oxnard Performing Arts Center Corporation (OPAC) is closing out its two-year program, Close to Home: A Community Conversation Spotlighting the People, Places and Perspectives Surrounding Homelessness, with a night of storytelling. The public is invited to OPAC on Friday, September 23, 2022 from 6 to 8 pm for a free outdoor performance called Stories from the Street.
Directed by Juliana Acosta, Stories from the Street profiles the experiences of unsheltered residents in Ventura County as told to and transcribed by writer Craig Rosen. The presentation includes a mix of firsthand accounts portrayed by local actors as well as those with lived experience.
Comments writer Craig Rosen, “We all see people living on the streets. Most of our interactions with the homeless do not go past giving change or a bill, if that. Interviewing homeless individuals was eye opening. At one point or another their lives resembled our own in ways we don’t imagine, but it’s true.” One of the performing arts participants, Montoya Johnson, stresses: “We’re homeless, not less.”
Made possible with support from California Humanities, the Close to Home series has featured:
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a Town Hall on the Pending Eviction Crisis
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a Photography Program with local foster youth whose artwork is now featured as public art on a utility box near the Oxnard Transportation Center (Meta & 4th St)
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An documentary film screening of “Lost In America” and Q&A with filmmaker Rotimi Rainwater addressing youth homelessness
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Conflict Kitchen, a dinner and dialogue, with Ukrainian refugees now living in Ventura County
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And a digital video series profiling social workers, case managers and others who serve the unsheltered in their roles at Salvation Army, Community Action, etc.
The project was inspired by the planning and development of Oxnard’s first 24-hour, year-round homeless shelter that will include wrap-around services. The 2019 Homeless Count identified 548 people living on the streets, in vehicles or encampments, or in shelters within the city and another 2,500 living with friends or family. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the issue.
OPAC acknowledges the generous contributions of Dr. Sunghee Nam, Sociology Professor at CSU CI, for her incredible contributions to the project as a Humanities Advisor.
STORIES FROM THE STREET
Friday, September 23, 2022 | 6-8 pm
Oxnard Performing Arts Center | 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA 93030
Open to the public. Admission is free.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit calhum.org
ABOUT OPAC — A sustainable leader, OPAC (est. 1998) is at the center of Oxnard’s artistic, educational, and economic life, inviting residents to discover, create, and connect through engagement with the arts and each other. OPAC provides cultural and community programming by supporting, producing and presenting theater, dance, music, media/visual arts, residencies, and outside-the-box programs that are of, by and for our community.