Homelessness problem hits close to home

OK-JIN AHN

Staff Writer

What do you do when you see homelessness on the street or in front of stores? I used to pass them by, only glancing at their appearances. If I see homeless people anywhere now, at least I will not look at them with prejudice.

The 7 days I spent in Washington, D.C. during spring break changed my negative beliefs toward homelessness and everyday life. I was a member of the Alternative Break Service Team. Our group dealt with the issues of poverty and homelessness in urban areas. We were busier than in Alma with various programs including working for soup kitchens, attending meetings with outreach groups to learn about urban poverty issues and meeting with congressmen.

In comparison with my city, Seoul, South Korea, homelessness and poverty are chronic social problems in Washington, D.C. The increase in homeless people is a new phenomenon caused by the financial crisis and unemployment since 1997 in South Korea. Therefore, most of the urban homeless are jobless, married men and they hope the government will create more jobs.

In the US, urban homelessness is the result of poverty and a lack of affordable housing. However, I wondered why homeless people choose to be homeless without efforts to find a job, because America is the so-called “land of opportunity.” But it was my silly idea.

Our service team had a unique chance to reflect upon the root causes of urban homelessness at So Others Might Eat. We created a model, Willie, who is a homeless person and thought about the root causes why he became homeless. After about 20 minutes of discussion, the black board was full of connected causes. Most homeless people do not choose to be homeless. Besides the housing issue, various factors contributed to the metropolitan area’s homeless population such as lack of education, affordable health care, domestic violence and mental illness.

After the trip, participants, Chaplain Christine Vogel, and Sally Scheide of the Kirk Center had a reflection meeting. We brought up problems of rural homelessness especially in the Alma community. Rural homelessness is often regarded as a less serious problem. However, many people experience housing distress in rural areas. In Alma we have places such as the community café and Salvation Army to help the disadvantaged pay for housing and food. A number of Alma students continue to engage in community service through various classes and service learning projects.

There is another thing we can do for our community. The Campus Kitchen Project is a program of the DC Central Kitchen which brings colleges together with student volunteers, on-campus dining services, and community organizations to combat with hunger in the community. For instance, Saint Louis University has a Campus Kitchen training program. Volunteers are trained in kitchen safety and sanitation, and they make use of surplus food from campus cafeterias and deliver hundreds of meals every week.

We can make small differences in our community. Willie is not just a model. His problems are not imagined. Willie’s problems are what homeless people in our community, country and the world face everyday.

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