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Students spend a day in the life of the homeless

By Kari VanDerVeen
April 17, 2008

Leslie Abell '08 learned firsthand what homelessness feels like during a St. Olaf College-sponsored trip she and several other Oles recently took to Minneapolis. By the end of the daylong homeless immersion program, she felt exhausted. She hadn't slept well in the shelter where the group stayed, she had little to eat or drink, and she had spent most of the day walking.

HomelessImmersionPyan
Allie Pyan '09 reflects on her experiences during a daylong homeless immersion program. She hopes to use the lessons she learned in her work as a community activist.
"I honestly feel like I spent a day being homeless, and it was a hard and humbling experience," Abell says.

Nine St. Olaf students participated in the program, called "A Day in the Life: Understanding Urban Homelessness." It was sponsored by the Civic Engagement Program in St. Olaf's Center for Experiential Learning, with support from the Lilly Lives of Worth and Service Grant. Erica Naylor '09 provided leadership in planning the immersion program. The purpose was to give students an opportunity to learn about the reality of homelessness and urban poverty through direct experience and intentional reflection, says Assistant Director of Civic Engagement Nate Jacobi.

Students arrived on a Friday night in early April and left Saturday night. They spent most of their time meeting with people who are experiencing homelessness and visiting organizations that work directly with the homeless. Some of the organizations they visited included People Serving People, Access Works, the Salvation Army, and Sharing and Caring Hands. The students slept in a meeting room at St. Stephen's Human Services in south Minneapolis. St. Stephen's runs the immersion program, which is aimed at educating students, legislators and concerned citizens.

HomelessImmersionGroup
St. Olaf students take a break at St. Stephen's Human Services to reflect on their day of meeting with people experiencing homelessness and service providers. They are joined by members of the St. Joseph Worker Program.
"The most important thing I learned about homelessness is that the homeless themselves are the best teachers," says Monika Hartsel '09. "Though I've learned about poverty in the classroom, there is no way that a book can truly describe the pain and frustration of the homeless experience."

Abell recalls how hungry she was as the group arrived at the Sharing and Caring Hands homeless shelter in downtown Minneapolis and the acute disappointment she felt at seeing that the facility was closed. "I felt in that moment the very real frustration that homeless people feel every day," Abell says.

Several of the students acknowledged that one of the greatest challenges they faced, especially early in the day, was feeling comfortable talking to and interacting with people experiencing homelessness. By the end of the immersion program, they realized the importance of that interaction.

"I think the most important thing is to listen. The homeless know what they need far more acutely than an outsider ever could. If we give the homeless the voice they deserve, I think that we can begin to get to the roots of poverty," Hartsel says.

The immersion program helped Marija Knudson '09 realize how pervasive homelessness is in our society and the multiple issues that influence access to affordable housing.

"Instead of viewing homelessness as an abstract theory that affects people far from me and unlike me, I recognize that it lives every day in people who search for food to fill their stomachs and shelter to cover their heads," she says. "Our economic and social system continues to fail the citizens of our country every day. Every single person deserves the right to a home."

The experience has made Allie Pyan '09 think about the ways she wants to address problems in her community and has prompted her to get more involved. "I hope that I will use these lessons to help me in my future as a community activist," she says.

Abell says the program helped her realize how interconnected all social issues are. "You can't talk about homelessness without talking about the lack of affordable housing. You can't talk about homelessness without talking about race issues. You can't talk about homelessness without talking about women's issues. This is really valuable to understand because then you realize that there's no simple answer," she says. "There are a lot of things that need to be rethought in our country."

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.