Amid hot summer days of August in New York City, one man set aside the comfort of his metropolis lifestyle for a greater, less popular cause. Yusuf Ramelize lives in an apartment in the borough of Queens, but for one week his new residence was the street floor by Manhattan’s Grand Central Station. Homeless and humble, for the third year in a row Yusuf put himself in the forefront to bring attention to those less fortunate in the glamorous city of New York.

Imagine a week without Internet or your mobile phone. No emails, Facebook, or text messaging.

Ramelize adds, “I don’t have any money. I don’t change clothes; this is it for the week. And I’m sleeping on the streets.” He did bath either for the entire week, which he says is one of the biggest physical challenges of the experience.

For the first night, New York City was hit with a heavy thunderstorm this May, and Ramelize like thousands of other homeless individuals and families here experienced it without shelter.

Ramelize along with a volunteering friend. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Lensay Abadula spent a night as a homeless this Ramadan. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, where Ramelize spent one week of homeless. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Homeless New Yorkers occupy corners for chat as well as sleep. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Barefooted people in NY make a community commonly identifed as the homeless. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Ramelize's campaign shirt symoblically decribes rising cost of living even for the middle class. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Ramelize along with a volunteering friend. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Lensay Abadula spent a night as a homeless this Ramadan. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, where Ramelize spent one week of homeless. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Homeless New Yorkers occupy corners for chat as well as sleep. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Barefooted people in NY make a community commonly identifed as the homeless. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

Ramelize's campaign shirt symoblically decribes rising cost of living even for the middle class. - Photo by Ehab Zahriyeh

“It’s really lonely at night. It’s lonely and its cold. It rained last night. It was a pretty intense experience,” Ramelize says with a look of exhaustion.

After his first night on the sidewalk in New York City, Ramelize woke up with a backache he says he never felt before.

Though there are many shelters for the homeless in New York, Ramelize complains that conditions there are worse than living on the streets.

“They are very dangerous and filthy.” Violence and rape are other complaints.

According to the Coalition for the Homeless, over 40,000 people will experience homelessness as the existing figure touches 100,000 mark. The figure has doubled in the past decade. Ramelize points out, “Our perception of homeless people may be inaccurate. It is not just panhandlers that live without a home.”

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