Pastor Oliver E. Buie and the members of Bel-Vue Community Presbyterian Church will present “Shelter,” a one-woman play about homelessness, on Friday August 16, at 7:30 p.m., in the edifice located at 675 E. 118th Street in Los Angeles.
Acclaimed writer Renée Westbrook wrote, directs and performs the piece, which is loosely based on her 2009 homeless experience. The story follows unemployed homeless writer Davina Grey who, by midnight, must find her way to shelter on the #4 Metro Bus.
Westbrook, who doesn’t drink or smoke and doesn’t suffer from mental illness, along with many of the middle-class homeless men and women she encountered in 2009, is living proof that homelessness can and does happen to people from all walks of life.
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Pastor Buie said, “Homelessness is the symptom of a much larger problem and we need to show the community that all homeless people are not mentally ill and drug addicted.”
Westbrook earned an MFA in Creative Writing from San Diego State University. She is also a screenwriter and her essay “On Vienna Sausage and Being Homeless” is published in the Black Lawrence Press anthology “Mamas, Martyrs, and Jezebels: Myths, Legends, and Other Lies You’ve Been Told About Black Women” (2024). Her work is published in “Black Warrior Review” and “Callaloo Literary Journal.”
Buie, who received his Master of Divinity degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary, renowned for his strong biblical preaching, teaching, organizational leadership, strategic planning, evangelism, community program development, stewardship, ecumenical and collaborative partnerships. He sits on several boards and is active in social issues such as environmental justice and criminal justice reform.
For information, email [email protected].
