FAQ

It’s listening with all five senses. It’s embodied listening. It’s listening that hears both form and content. It’s listening that creates an invitation for collaboration and a sharing of space. We see and hear creative listening in jazz music. In a skilled group, the horn player is so aware of what the drummer and bass player are doing that they are right with them. The bass player is completely holding that horn solo. That solo would have an absence if it existed all by itself; the holding by the bass player allows the beauty to happen. The musicians’ pacing and attention are at the speed of capability. A good listener is listening in a way that is pacing with the other person. Their body is in tune with themselves and in tune with the speaker. Both form and content are being felt and preserved. When gorgeous creative listening is going on, you’re often surprised by what emerges from inside. Intuition can come out. That is true, precious, and beautiful.

See this 45 second example of creative listening

It means continually asking participants the question, “Would it be okay if we talk about…?” and, “Would it be okay if we put the mic on you now,” and “We just edited this draft. Are you okay with making it public?” It means continually asking for permission. It means only putting out material that speaks the truths of the individuals involved and only putting out material when everyone involved is ready to do so.

This question is called “the universal value question.” Answering it allows each of us to reflect on what we value most, how we want to be treated, and what we want for ourselves. It enables us to create a personal mission statement that reminds us where true north lies on our internal compass. While many of us can think of 10 to 20 things we really value, I have found it helpful to hone in on 3 when answering this question.

Universal values are helpful in two ways:

1. On a personal level, they ground us in our mission. What’s Home’s Creative Director, Andrew Purchin, responds to this question by saying: “I care about seeing the inherent good and dignity in me, you, and all beings.” When he’s doing something difficult, thinking of that phrase enables him to do what needs to be done from a centered place.

2. On a collective level, a conversation grounded in universal values allows us to effectively listen across differences with respect. For instance, take Andrew who cares about dignity for all beings. Suppose he’s frustrated about theft in his neighborhood and finds himself speaking with a woman who works with people trapped in the criminal justice system. She tends towards leniency on these issues. If Andrew learns that her values are centered around justice, the two of them—while they may disagree on policy issues—can keep returning to dignity and justice. This will help them have a more respectful and productive conversation.

The universal value question was pioneered by Monica Sharma, founder of Radical Transformational Leadership and a former United Nations facilitator. She has trained people to use this question in order to shift them from a space of not caring about a particular population or problem to becoming deeply invested in both.

We ask this question of our production team, our participants, our artists, and even our screening participants. You can find their deeply considered responses throughout this website.

The project is about our housing crisis, and all of us are affected by that—whether we’re housed or unhoused. Those of us who are housed have a lot to offer: job skills, problem solving skills, stability…and, we have blind spots. Those of us who are unhoused also have a lot to offer: ingenuity, survival skills, a non-judgmental and unfiltered outlook…and, we also have blind spots. If we as a community are to know “What’s Home” in Santa Cruz, we need to tap into all of our resources. There is a parable from more than one religious tradition that says that any one of us might be the Messiah. With that in mind, each of us should treat another as if they could be the Messiah too, whether they are a landlord, a tenant, a politician, a cop, a housed person, or an unhoused person. Whoever we are, we have something to offer. Let’s bring out the best in each other!

We’re finding them through a range of methods:

-Conversations that take place while making art in locations where unhoused people congregate. Next to the easel is a sign that says: “What’s home to you?” and “What do you care about most for yourself and all beings?”

- Ads and posts on social media

- Referrals and word-of-mouth communication

We’ve been consciously looking for a broad spectrum of people to participate in this project. This includes: renters, homeowners, recently unhoused people, chronically unhoused people, real estate professionals, working class folks, wealthy folks, unemployed folks, community members who identify as BIPOC, queer, or LGBTQIA+, people who live in encampments, people who live in vehicles, residents who just moved here, and those who are long-time Santa Cruz County residents.

Moving is one of the top three stressors we can experience in life (along with the death of a love one and a divorce or break-up)—even when it goes well. Imagine losing your home then being kicked out of your campsite again and again, day after day. That’s about a stressful as it gets. Stress can create or exacerbate poor choices, unhelpful behaviors, and addictions in anyone—housed or unhoused.

Every moment of listening, respect, and seeing the good in those around us is a moment of sobriety. It’s an opportunity to show each other how we want the world to be. It’s often said that connection—or relationship—is the opposite of addiction. A moment of connection is a moment of sobriety. People recover from substance addiction and dependence through a commitment to being present and connected. Being with loss, pain, trauma, and fear in a way that isn’t overwhelming but is both present and holding creates a chemical reaction in the body that is quite similar to the one induced by drug use. Through this project, we have the opportunity to enable all of us to become more sober and present with life’s challenges. Treating those who are vulnerable and who have few resources with dignity and respect is more effective than re-traumatizing them. Sabotaging people does not help people to stop their self-sabotaging efforts. It is possible to simultaneously maintain boundaries and respect.

All of us! All of us are continually losing people—friends, teachers, our favorite checkers at the supermarket, people who take care of us and our children—to the housing crisis because they cannot afford to keep living in this city. Even for those of us in apparently stable housing situations, the current housing crisis is constantly altering our daily lives and the fabric of our community.

This is a good question for us to look at when we’re feeling stressed. What does compassion look like for me in that moment? If we’re concerned about someone else’s stress, we can ask what compassion looks like for them in that moment as well.Now, imagine what it would look like if everyone in the community asked themselves this question… Check yourself to see if you’re applying a political opinion or a value to this question. We don’t always know enough about what it’s like to be another person. If you’re not sure what compassion looks like to them, ask questions and open up your curiosity.

1. Use creative listening. When you feel stressed and constrained, consider listening to that which is anxious, angry, scared, and burnt out from a place of creative joy. Breathe and center yourself in your body. Imagine playing with color, texture, sound, or gesture to express the way you’re feeling. If you’re listening to someone who is stressed, first allow yourself to take deep soothing breaths. Then, get curious by asking about the size, form, color, sound, texture, rhythm of whatever they are experiencing.

2. Bring universal values into conversations about housing. Ask yourself and the person you’re engaged with, “What do you care about most for yourself and all beings?” Most people answer with values such as dignity, safety, justice, joy, love, and peace. Lead by example by first grounding yourself in your own values. For instance, if you want dignity and full potential for yourself and all beings, cultivate dignity in yourself before entering into potentially difficult interactions. Then, see the dignity in those with whom you’re interacting.

3. Be open to initiating conversations around housing issues with a wide variety of people.

4. Examine your own biases and their origins.

5. Volunteer at one of the following organizations that serve homeless individuals in Santa Cruz

Footbridge Services

Housing Matters

Homeless Person Health Project

Homeless Garden Project

6. Donate money or in-kind goods to this project and/or any of the organizations listed above.

7. Respectfully express your opinions to your elected officials.

Many people and organizations are working on practical and logistical solutions to the housing crisis. While some of this work goes smoothly, some of it runs into barriers erected by lack of knowledge, lack of empathy, or our tendency to see differences instead of commonalities. This project aims to address the need for the kind of mindset shift that will enable all of us to be better participants in our conversations and communities. With increased empathy, better listening skills, and a heightened awareness of our own values and biases, we can more effectively show up to participate in housing solutions.

Initial funding came from Santa Cruz’s City Arts Recovery and Design (CARD) initiative. Additional funding is coming from individual and company donations.

First and foremost, this project offers unhoused individuals a voice. Their stories are being heard, recorded, and shared. This is empowering. They also get the benefit of being involved with an evolving, transformative work of art. Unhoused people get to share their empathy, knowledge, and resources with housed people who are also suffering as a result of this housing crisis. In addition, each of the unhoused people participating in this project is receiving $250 in gift cards. Food is provided at each meeting.

This project also offers housed people a voice. Their stories are being heard, recorded, and shared. This is empowering. Housed individuals have an opportunity to engage with people they may have previously been afraid to meet. They get to clarify the values that guide their lives and use this resource to attend to and befriend other human beings who share those universal values. Housed people have an opportunity to join with artists and unhoused individuals in open-hearted curiosity around the sounds, textures, colors, and stories that surround the topic of home and housing scarcity.

As we get the trailers done, they will appear on the documentaries page.

The schedule for public screenings, as it comes available, can be found on the events page.