Colombo (News1st): The US Children’s TV show Sesame Street has introduced the first-ever homeless Muppet, to help its young viewers understand and learn ‘homelessness’.

What is Sesame Street?

Sesame Street is an American educational children’s television series that combines live action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry.

It is produced by Sesame Workshop and was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. The program is known for its images communicated through the use of Jim Henson’s Muppets and includes short films, with humor and cultural references.

“Sesame Street” has not shied away from taking on tough topics in its 49 seasons, whether it’s kids dealing with parents who are incarcerated, handling the challenges of autism, or facing bullies at school. The iconic children’s show is now tackling the issue of homelessness through the story of a Muppet named Lily.

Who is Muppet Lily?

Lily, a 7-year-old Muppet who has appeared on Sesame Street since 2011, is coping with the effects of an unsettled family.

Lily’s storylines have always found her trying to deal with difficult circumstances. When she was first introduced her family struggled to consistently have enough to eat, an issue that is often linked to homelessness.

In one video Lily describes her feeling stating “I miss our apartment and now we don’t have our own place to live, and sometimes I wonder if we’ll ever have our own home again.”

Sesame Street hopes that Lily’s experiences will help children in similar circumstances deal with their situation as well.

Speaking to foreign media, Sherrie Westin -who works for Sesame Street- said;

“We know children experiencing homelessness are often caught up in a devastating cycle of trauma—the lack of affordable housing, poverty, domestic violence, or other trauma that caused them to lose their home, the trauma of actually losing their home, and the daily trauma of the uncertainty and insecurity of being homeless. We want to help disrupt that cycle by comforting children, empowering them, and giving them hope for the future. We want them to know that they are not alone and home is more than a house or an apartment—home is wherever the love lives.”

Craig Melvin, an American journalist, paid a visit to the legendary “Sesame Street” stoop on Friday to meet Lily and her friends. Craig asked Lily about the experience of being homeless, as her family ended up staying with Sofia when they lost their stable housing.

“It’s hard, because, well, you feel like no one else is going through it,” Lily said. “But you realize that everyone’s going through it with you. We stayed with (Sofia), and she taught me this really cool thing called ‘Connect the Dots.’

Lily’s friend Grover then told Craig the real meaning of home. “Home is just where the people you love are,” he said.