4/24 Reporting Update

At this point, I have all the interviews I will be using for my story. I went to Kensington over the weekend and interviewed two women with addictions about their experiences on the streets in the area. One woman was living in a tent in the encampment under the El and the other woman was renting a room in the area but will be kicked out of her place at the end of the month for failing to pay rent. It was an impactful experience hearing their stories and having them open up about their trauma and experiences. Their voices will add a lot of depth to my piece. One of the women allowed me to take a photo of her that I’d like to use in the article.

This afternoon, I visited Interim House for the second time. Sydney came along and we took lots of photos around the house and the people I’ve interviewed. Today I spoke with two women who have been in treatment at IH for a few months about how trauma-informed therapies like DBT have helped them into recovery. They also let me know the benefits of having a women-exclusive recovery house. I will be setting up a time to go back to JJPI with Sydney to take some further photos.

Laura Smythe

Laura Smythe is a junior studying journalism at Temple University. She fell in love with journalism by listening to people’s stories while traveling around Europe, Africa, and the Americas before attending Temple. Laura works as an editor for College Magazine, a national publication for college students, and as a featured writer for LGBT Outfitters, a magazine focused on LGBT rights, positivity, and awareness. She is also the Philadelphia correspondent for New York arts and culture magazine The Knockturnal and a freelance writer for The Temple News. Laura is originally from Seattle, but Philadelphia stole her heart. She is a fan of the Oxford comma, self-shooting her articles, and soy Chai lattes. She enjoys writing about mental health, feminism, travel, and arts and culture. Last summer she tried her hand at international reporting in South Africa and wrote a Hearst award nominated long-form piece on sexual violence in addition to a package of articles on local artisans and their crafts. You can catch her blogging about her travels on her forthcoming blog Across the Time Zones. Contact Laura at [email protected].