wfn.org | UMNS# 203-College students live among the homeless for spring break

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College students live among the homeless for spring break

Apr. 7, 2005

NOTE: Photographs and a UMTV report are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By John Gordon*

ROUND ROCK, Texas (UMNS)-While many college students head for the beach
for spring break, a group from a Texas church spent the time off
shivering under a bridge and scrounging for food, learning about life as
homeless people.

Six young men and women from First United Methodist Church of Round Rock
spent three days on the streets of nearby Austin and several area
communities. Each started with only $7 and faced the daily challenges of
finding food, transportation and a place to sleep.

The experience was "definitely life-changing," says Kimmy Beitelshees,
18, a student at Texas Tech University.

David Petersen, a student at Austin Community College, agrees. "I'd have
to say that I ignored (the homeless) enough, that I didn't actually know
how bad the problem really was," he says.

The students were accompanied by B.K. Crowe, the church's student
ministries director. Crowe wanted them to experience firsthand the
problems faced by the homeless, and how churches and other agencies
respond to their needs. It was the first time the church had sponsored
such a program.

"I've been, just like a lot of people, passing the homeless on the
street and not really looking them in the eye or paying much attention,"
says Crowe. "They become almost invisible people, in a way, but they are
very real people."

A study by the Urban Institute estimates 3.5 million people, including
1.35 million children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given
year. A growing shortage of affordable rental housing and a simultaneous
increase in poverty are largely responsible for the rise in homelessness
during the past 25 years, according to the National Coalition for the
Homeless.

The students' survival quest started at their church. Each received bus
passes and a few $10 food vouchers from the Rev. David Adkins, senior
pastor. There was no bus service to an agency they wanted to visit for
food and clothes. So they hiked nearly 10 miles to The Caring Place in
nearby Georgetown.

Georgetown isn't known for being particularly friendly to the homeless.
A counselor at The Caring Place says police often drop off homeless
people at the city limits with instructions to keep walking.

The Caring Place provided the students with lunch and vouchers to pick
out used clothing from a store the agency operates. The organization
helps 11,000 families each year, and the workers and volunteers are
"incredible," Beitelshees says. "They've all got such open hearts."

One of the biggest eye-openers was standing in line with real homeless
people outside a Salvation Army shelter in Austin. Every night, the
homeless line up for a lottery of sorts, drawing numbers to determine
who can spend the night in indoor shelters.

Those who don't make the cut can be found sleeping in parks, under
bridges or wherever they can find a space.

"Intense," Beitelshees says of the wait. "I had my eyes closed for part
of it, but it was not what I was expecting at all."

The students ended up unrolling their sleeping bags under a bridge about
a mile from the Texas state Capitol. As they camped for the night,
temperatures dropped into the 40s, and a cold wind blew across them.

"It was just like sleeping in ice," says Scott Raney, a University of
Texas student. "It's definitely given me a greater sense of empathy,
what they have to go through every day."

For Beitelshees, sleeping under a bridge was a first. "I never woke up
with dust and sand in my mouth before," she says. "I can't imagine going
through it every single day. Last night was the longest night of my
life."

The group got up early to work in the kitchen at the Salvation Army
shelter. While some scrambled eggs, others chopped hundreds of pounds of
potatoes.

"It's kind of humbling to go downtown and help other people that
actually have nothing," says Anthony Cooper, a Texas Tech student.

The second day brought a cold rain as the group walked to a bus stop and
then spent several hours sleeping on the floor of a bus station, waiting
to return to Round Rock.  They found an open door at their church and
spent the night on the floor-as the real homeless have done in the past.

Armed with a new perspective, the students pledge to do more to help
homeless people.

The United Methodist Book of Resolutions says: "The Bible calls us to
commit ourselves to welcoming the stranger into our midst and to seeing
all people as belonging to the family of God. The church must recognize
in deed as well as word that homeless people are our neighbors, seek to
learn who are the homeless in our communities and speak out on their
behalf in our congregations and in the larger community."

Paige Jackson, who attends Texas A&M University, says she never before
noticed people lining up outside the homeless shelter in downtown
Austin, where she and her friends like to go dancing.

"It's just made me realize how well I have it and how much these people
need help-that they're not just bums," she says. "I saw families who are
really in need at that serving center. I just really want to go help the
homeless now."

*Gordon is a freelance producer and writer in Marshall, Texas.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org