not the onion

Sesame Street Introduces Its First Homeless Muppet

Poor Lily can’t catch a break. The Muppet was introduced to Sesame Street in 2011 to address the issue of food insecurity. Now the poor kid is homeless. Does it have anything to do with HBO gentrifying the block? The Sesame Workshop hopes that Lily’s acceptance by Sesame Street mainstays like Elmo will help destigmatize homelessness, since a growing number of children are without housing. Lily’s story is part of a “cycle of trauma,” according to Sherrie Westin, president of global impact and philanthropy at Sesame Workshop. In other words, Lily will be the Shawn Hunter of Sesame Street for the foreseeable future. All pain and pathos of the human experience will be enacted upon her. The Lily’s-homelessness storyline will air online, with free bilingual supplementary material.

Sesame Street Introduces Its First Homeless Muppet