‘I’ve lost everything except my faith in others,’ homeless Spaniard Juan Carlos has scrawled in halting capitals across a piece of cardboard, hoping the message will make him visible to passers-by. Now, the very writing that allows him to beg could help lift him out of homelessness.
Barcelona homeless support charity Arrels Foundation has partnered with advertising agency The Cyranos McCann to create Homeless Fonts, a website selling typefaces created by the city’s homeless. About 3,000 people live rough in Barcelona, 900 of whom sleep in the streets every night. Numbers have risen since 2008 as Spain battles an economic crisis and almost 25-per-cent unemployment.
