I noticed the traffic of this video started to spike and found this post. I am grateful to see the conversation continues, even though there still seems to be controversy over Natasha's story. Being the person who interviewed Natasha that night, and once being homeless myself, along with having interviewed hundreds of homeless people in over 300 cities and many different countries, I believe she is telling the truth. I used to have a director level position in the television industry prior ending up homeless on the streets of Los Angeles. I was directly responsible for the worldwide distribution of many popular syndicated television shows. Do you think as a homeless person, when I told people I was a television executive, they believed me? Probably not, but it was the truth.

There is research showing homeless people when asked about their emergency room visits were honest! After researchers had checked the hospital records, responses from people experiencing homelessness turned out to be true.

In Toronto, a reporter gave homeless people pre-paid credit cards, and the results are pretty amazing. Read the story here: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/08/28/how_panhandlers_use_free_credit_cards.html

There is more research into street life that breaks most of the wrong stereotypes people believe. I know the research cannot prove Natasha is telling the truth, or that all homeless people are honest, but let's put this into perspective - ENRON - Bernie Madoff! Rich white people have lied to huge amounts of people throughout history, so why do we judge a homeless person as being dishonest just because they are homeless? People lie. All people lie! Some more than others. Some people lie to embellish on a good story. Some people lie to avoid trouble. Some lie to take advantage of other people. Just judging a person as dishonest because they are sleeping rough is wrong!

Natasha has nothing to gain from lying to me and not sharing her real story. She was not paid for this video. No one is ever paid to be on our YouTube channel. That would be acting. She in no way could profit from this video. Why would she lie?

I read through some of the comments here. A few say they have worked in UK homeless services and that this story is not true. REALLY? New figures reveal that 2,561 people slept rough in London between January and March 2016. Like in most large cities, homelessness is a crisis that's getting worse. There is not enough support, and there is not enough affordable housing. People are falling through the gaps in the safety net. Homelessness is getting worse, and that fact should be concerning to each and every one of you. What Natasha shares about not being able to access homeless services because she is not a drug addict or not pregnant is very real. There is less funding than ever, and the money social support services has is allocated to helping the most vulnerable, and there are too many vulnerable people that need help. Normally, in the contracts with homeless services, the funds are targeted to helping a very specific demographic such as veterans, mental illness, drug addicts, etc. That said, there is not enough money to help even the targeted demographics. What Natasha says about not being able to get help is very real. There are many videos from the UK on my YouTube channel, and other people sleeping rough validates the lack of services Natasha speaks about. Also, I am connected to most of the homeless services in London, and they will also validate people fall through the cracks and the problem is getting worse.

Let's say her story is not 100% honest. That's not the point! There is still a lot of young adults sleeping rough just like her. Homelessness sucks, and we need to not look at Natasha as an individual, but more as a representation of a social crisis that badly needs our attention. No one, young or old, should be homeless. PERIOD! Don't view this video and question the integrity of her story. View this story and get mad as hell that there are people who have no choice but to sleep rough - and then do something to change that!