Jenks Goes 'Houseless' with "The Street Queen"

Jenks and his crew went to San Francisco, California to live with 22-year-old Danielle Earls, who has been homeless since she was 13!  She, as many other homeless folks in California do, prefers to refer to herself as 'houseless' rather than homeless, which kind of makes sense.  They aren't homeless per se because the entire world can be their home, their personal oyster.  However, they are 'houseless' because they don't have an actual house to go to at night.  Get it?  I think it's rather clever.

Jenks got in touch with Homeless Youth Alliance, "an all-volunteer organization founded in 1997 designed by and for the homeless youth of the Haight Ashbury district," to help connect him with someone who wouldn't mind the crew tagging along for a week.  As Danielle pointed out in the beginning of the episode, homeless people do not welcome video cameras.  At all.  To prove that point, a one-legged 'houseless' young man on crutches even chased the crew down a street when he saw them filming.

Heavy D, the name Danielle goes by on the streets, welcomed Jenks and his crew as she tried to get her social security card back from her mom, which would allow Danielle to get a job.  Danielle shared her dream of having a family and working hard to keep a job if she got one.  In order to afford a bus ticket to her hometown in Oregon, Jenks and Heavy D collected recyclable bottles and attempted to gather "spange," spare change, from people on sidewalks.

Sleeping on the ground and facing the dangers that come with living on the street are all better choices for Heavy D than living with her family.  After going with Danielle to Oregon to see her family, Jenks better understood why being 'houseless' was a way of surviving for Danielle.

World of Jenks - MTV Shows