As Marc mentioned the intent isn't/wasn't to exploit anyone for entertainment purposes. What initially wanted to do was raise people's awareness that homeless people aren't just all 'bums'. The best way to do this seemed to me to be to let them tell their story.
I agree I could do a transcript version of their story but I feel like:
1. That would be far less engaging, and as a result far fewer people would actually see their story (less people read nowadays that you think)
2. The chances that people would SEE, understand and lend a helping hand would be less. Think about it, would Ted Williams have ended up getting that HUGE break if his interview had just been a transcript? I feel like video is a much more emotional medium and as such would engage viewers far more.
However, the idea kind of transformed and I figured it would be better to interview ANYONE that people would find interesting and make them the offer. So by far most of the interviews will be people that are 'well off' that the public finds interesting.
Thanks for the links btw.. very useful stuff that I hadn't stumbled across before!