No place to lay your head

Audio, story and photography by Tyler Bissmeyer

James Bumpus, 50, originally from Florence Ala., came to Bowling Green, Ky., to work at an
alternative housing program a friend started. The house eventually shut down due to lack of
funding and left James homeless. Bumpus sings gospels around the downtown area in order
to feed himself. Bumpus sleeps in a broken-down van parked outside a church and has
difficulties securing a job because he has no forms of identification and also suffers from
manic depression and shows signs of schizophrenia. “Homelessness for me is not a choice.
It’s a result of circumstances minus social services available to me,” Bumpus said.

photo by Tyler Bissmeyer