Category Archives: Homelessness

Homelessness

Homeless Vets

by Katie Kahn

 

One would think that when brave soldiers came back from Iraq, they would have a safe home to return to. However, studies show that a high percentage of these heroes are returning with mental problems, and showing up at homeless shelters around the nation.

Today, more than 10,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are homeless or in programs aimed at keeping them off the streets. This number has doubled since 2006. Also, these veterans are turning up in the streets much sooner after returning than even the Vietnam veterans did.

There are high rates of PTSD in these homeless vets, which can lead to substance abuse and difficulty reintegrating into families and work. The poor economy and the nature of the current wars also add to the vets’ difficulties in coming back home.

Today, there are many efforts to help get these heroes off the streets and back on their feet. There are more than 2,400 non-profit organizations across the country that now have homeless veteran programs. In New Jersey, 8.6% of the population is homeless veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. The Veterans Transitional Housing Program is working to medically evaluate, and rehabilitate veterans.

It is important to realize that a large percentage of the homeless are veterans. Common stereotypes about the homeless being lazy or unproductive citizens are simply untrue; especially when it comes to men and women who have served our country so heroically. Being conscious of the difficulties these citizens face in returning home is important to being an aware and active citizen.

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2011 edition of The Wall Newspaper.

Homelessness

From the Streets of Tanzania to Trenton

by Tiffany Teng

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain

 

Last summer, my friend and I decided to travel to Arusha, Tanzania for six weeks to volunteer at two orphanages. We went through a program called International Volunteer Headquarters, and they placed us with Tanzania Volunteer Experience.

As a TCNJ student, this amazing experience was a severe jolt from my pristine suburban lifestyle. I met compelling Tanzanians and volunteers, passionate people who changed my perspective of homelessness, apart from my experiences with Trenton’s homeless shelters.

On a macroscopic level, homelessness is a rampant international issue. Although Trenton, New Jersey suffers immensely from homelessness, viewing the issue through a new set of eyes creates a different perspective.

In Tanzania, children are often orphaned or abandoned due to disease and poverty. At Sunrise of Life, street children are assisted with basic needs for survival: food, shelter, healthcare and education. The organization creates opportunities for children who have no opportunities available to them.

According to the World Bank, Tanzania’s adult population (15-49 years old) suffers from staggering conditions – the HIV prevalence rate is approximately 5.6%; thousands suffer from AIDS, and education past secondary school is a miracle.

At Sunrise of Life, volunteers maintain a dormitory, food, and a means of education through international sponsors and local donations. These street teenagers that the organization serves have scoured the streets of Arusha, begging tourists for spare change. They found food in disease-infected dumpsters and slept under the verandas in front of shops, one child’s feet another child’s pillow for the night.

Aaron is just one exceptional teenager whose life has been changed by Sunrise of Life. Throughout the years, their continuous aid has supplied him with the educational tools of English literacy. Through this, they have filled Aaron with an overwhelming desire for expression, allowing him to create powerful and inspirational poetry. Without Sunrise of Life, he might still be on the streets, with neither a home nor a future.

Although the organization’s management has overcome a wealth of challenges and corruption, the kind hearts of dedicated volunteers have maintained its roots and streamlined its goals to consistently support the children. Without perseverance to fight corruption with genuine compassion and fueled passion, these children would encounter disease and possible death. (Learn more about Sunrise of Life at http://www.sunriseoflife.com and read their blog at http://tanzaniaupdate.blogspot.com).

Focusing on local issues is critical in order to comprehend the magnitude of homelessness and its various stereotypes. However, suffering is prevalent throughout the globe. Tanzania’s Sunrise of Life is one example out of millions.

Enacting positive change is a step-by-step process that starts with a few passionate souls. There are a multitude of pertinent cases in which lives were saved because of a simple, generous act.

Challenge yourself. Think larger than yourself, your town, and your country. The reward of a “thank you” or eternal gratitude is worth more than a million designer jeans. Asante sana (Swahili thank you).

 

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2011 edition of The Wall Newspaper.

Homelessness

Artist’s Spotlight

by Tiffany Teng

 

Every Tuesday, Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) hosts A-Team meetings, led by Susan Darley. The artists who hail from Trenton come to paint, draw, and create art in a relaxed yet energized atmosphere. With the A-Team, Susan states, “Art comes first.”

A-Team artists are passionate about the art of expression. One artist has been coming to A-Team gatherings for years. Frankie Mack makes abstract pieces that incorporate colorful paints to unearth revolving images of faces, homes, stripes and shapes. He is inspired by music – he describes the experience as, “I can get what I want,” and not “I take what I can get.” A number of Mack’s pieces have been sold, another way the A-Team and TASK collaborate to help these patrons.

Another artist’s name is Brooke Beatty. She makes dolls and model houses, paints, draws, writes poetry and sings Vast I Am, a musical group at TASK. Art has been a constant in her life, ever since her own talented mother taught her to sew and utilize patterns to piece together beautiful quilts.

Art has personality. And because the A-Team does not promote a competitive atmosphere, the authentic creations are made with joy and derive from pure inner vision. Each artist is self-taught, and none of the artists wish to deceive or copy from another. After years of despair, suffering and pain, their voices beg to be heard and their hearts soar with the expressionism art provides for them.

Forgetting the past takes heaps of courage and they are unafraid to be dependent on one another for support. Without this empowering community that meets two hours a week, the artists would not release their emotions and frustration in creation.

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2011 edition of The Wall Newspaper.

Homelessness

What Homelessness Means to Me

By Ama Banahene

This article originally appeared in the print version of the Spring 2013 issue of The Wall.

For many people, including myself, homelessness has a negative connota­tion. It is usually believed to be the end of result of engaging in social vices: excessive gambling, drug and alcohol abuse, prostitution and general irresponsibility.

Many will confess their conflict surrounding this issue. They are will­ing to help those in needs yet believe most homeless individuals are simply corrupt and have low morale. How­ever, this could not be further from the truth.

The reality is that people with mental illness are the most vulnerable to becoming homeless. With increas­ing healthcare cost, high unemploy­ment levels and with a spike in those without or with inadequate insurance, members of the society with mental disorders are at a very high risk of los­ing shelter.

The high level of stress caused by the present state of the economy has led to an increase in the occurrence of mental illnesses. The hike of symp­toms leads to bad health and poor performance, placing many of these individuals at a high risk of job loss. Lack of adequate insurance deprives many of proper treatment, making their disease become a source of li­ability. More importantly, with the increased competition for jobs even in the menial ones, the mentally disabled face a higher risk of job-based dis­crimination than other applicants.

The sub-group of the mentally dis­abled with the highest risk of becom­ing homeless is those with drug and alcohol related issues. The criminal­ization of chronic drug users, social attitude towards substance abuse problems and weak mental health care system places these individuals at a risk of not having a secure place for shelter.

Criminal laws that punish drug use and distribution leads to many chronic users being incarcerated; they are then faced with many difficulties during the process of re-introduction into society.

More often than not, societal misconception about substance abuse issues being a reflection of personal characters leads to those with abuse issues facing family and social rejec­tion. The lack of support cripples their successful readjustment. Most ex-convicts face job and housing-based discrimination. Also because of so many substance abusers are of low socioeconomic status, there is less of a chance they will receive the rehabilita­tion or familial support they need to move on—particularly after years of alienation.

These problems are not going away. To be aware is the first step. Home­lessness can befall anybody; this must be known.

Homelessness

Volunteering Around the World

By Caitlin Dolan

This article originally appeared in the print version of the Spring 2013 issue of The Wall.

During the academic year 2011-2012, I studied abroad in Shanghai, China to improve my Mandarin language skills and immerse myself in the Chinese culture. Upon entering Shanghai, I was able to physically experience China’s economic boom in its famous masterpiece, The Bund.

The Bund is Shanghai’s waterfront area, which holds 52 buildings and one of the richest collections of art deco in the world. Within the last 20 years, The Communist Party has built up this area for international business, tourism and architectural expression. The Bund is China’s image for the world to see how much the country has developed and thrived economi­cally.

After I joined the Habitat for Hu­manity in China, I was able to wit­ness the alarming difference between China’s extravagant Shanghai city life and the Chinese countryside. Up until this point, I imagined China to be very well developed everywhere due to the country’s rank as the world’s second largest economy.

 

How bad could homelessness be in China?

In 2008, an earthquake devas­tated the Mayan village, located on a mountain in Qionglai city in Sichuan. With a population of 1,380 people, the citizens lived in houses made of mud, wood and bricks. The village did not have appropriate sanitation, electricity or a clean water supply.

After this earthquake, many of the houses were destroyed due to mud­slides, leaving most people homeless. The Mayan people are very traditional and sheltered from the outside world, so most are uneducated and illiterate. Thus, they found it difficult to relocate and find work in the bordering city of Chengdu, another one of China’s cit­ies specifically used for international business.

Hope came to the Mayan village in 2010 when the government of Qiong­lai City supported the national “New Rural Construction Policy” to raise the safety level and improve the quality of life. For the first time, China allowed an outside organization to come in and restore homes that were damaged due to natural disasters. Habitat for Humanity was given funding to come in and build new houses that are able to hold up against an earthquake with 8.0 magnitude.

I was the leader of Team 2, in charge of lifting bricks and stones from the mud that was still left behind from the destroyed homes in order to construct new homes for the families. Aside from participating in the day’s activities, I had the opportunity to become close with one of the elders in the village, 哩哩 (Lili). I carried the debris from her destroyed home in a basket backpack that she made for us. I also went to her temporary shack on the side of the dirt road for tea and conversation. 哩哩 (Lili) told me about her family and her business collecting and distributing spring tea leaves to and from Chengdu.

She also told me that before Habitat for Humanity, she never saw a for­eigner before in her life. She is thank­ful every day for the organization helping her village to end the two years of suffer­ing spent homeless, without proper food supply or sanitation. Habitat for Human­ity is finishing up the Mayan village this fall with new homes for every family.

Through my volun­teering, I saw differ­ent kinds of home­lessness and poverty. The disaster in China created homelessness for a very rural com­munity.

In Trenton, Habitat for Humanity also plays an important role in the lives of families that are in need of stable housing. The families are always very welcoming to volunteers. There is never a day that goes by that I am not offered a cool drink or conversation.

The same is true in the Mayan Vil­lage, only in the Chinese way: tea and dumplings. Both communities wanted to get to know the volunteers from Habitat for Humanity. I can honestly say that my work in Trenton prepared me for overcoming the cultural bound­aries that were present in the Mayan Village. The families in Trenton want a safe and stable place to call home and I knew it to be the same in Mayan, China.

In my experience in China, not only was I able to volunteer, but I was also able to leave with a better understand­ing of what it means to be a volun­teer—adjusting to diverse situations to effectively serve with the little amount of time you have in that special place. Whether you are volunteering in a city or a rural village, homelessness comes in vastly different shapes and sizes. So, listen and learn, challenge your limits, and find yourself with a greater understanding for the world.