Spring Break
PIRG hosts fifth Faces of Homelessness panel
Caitlin Marquis
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: News
UConnPIRG (Connecticut Student Public Interest Research Group) hosted its fifth-annual Faces of Homelessness panel as part of its Hunger and Homelessness Campaign at the Thomas J. Dodd Center Wednesday night.
The panel consisted of John Harrison and Steve Thomas, two formerly homeless men, and Michael O'Neill, director of the Faces of Homelessness Speakers' Bureau, part of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
According to a press release from UConn PIRG, "The purpose of this event is to spread awareness about those who suffer from a lack of sufficient food and housing and dispel the myth that all homeless people are drug and alcohol abusers or those who brought their condition upon themselves."
"How many of you know somebody who has experienced homelessness?" O'Neill asked the student audience, few of whom raised their hands. He continued, asking the audience to name stereotypes regarding the homeless population. Student answers included "lazy," "dirty," "uneducated," "alcoholics," "poor," "drug addicts" and "victims."
"People don't wake up one day and say, 'I want to be homeless,'" O'Neill said. The leading causes of homelessness O'Neill listed do not exactly match the stereotypes the audience named; they include a lack of affordable housing and health care, low paying jobs, domestic violence and mental illness.
O'Neill, in an effort to dispel stereotypes, said "44 percent of people that are homeless have a job" and "3.5 million people experienced homelessness last year."
After asking the students if they had pets, he stated that there's an "estimated four to six times more animal shelters than homeless shelters."
With stereotypes squashed with statistics, Harrison stepped down off the stage to tell his story.
"At your age, I didn't know anything about homelessness," he began. Harrison explained that he came from an average American family - his mom, dad, brother and a couple of sisters. "We had everything that we needed," he said.
The panel consisted of John Harrison and Steve Thomas, two formerly homeless men, and Michael O'Neill, director of the Faces of Homelessness Speakers' Bureau, part of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
According to a press release from UConn PIRG, "The purpose of this event is to spread awareness about those who suffer from a lack of sufficient food and housing and dispel the myth that all homeless people are drug and alcohol abusers or those who brought their condition upon themselves."
"How many of you know somebody who has experienced homelessness?" O'Neill asked the student audience, few of whom raised their hands. He continued, asking the audience to name stereotypes regarding the homeless population. Student answers included "lazy," "dirty," "uneducated," "alcoholics," "poor," "drug addicts" and "victims."
"People don't wake up one day and say, 'I want to be homeless,'" O'Neill said. The leading causes of homelessness O'Neill listed do not exactly match the stereotypes the audience named; they include a lack of affordable housing and health care, low paying jobs, domestic violence and mental illness.
O'Neill, in an effort to dispel stereotypes, said "44 percent of people that are homeless have a job" and "3.5 million people experienced homelessness last year."
After asking the students if they had pets, he stated that there's an "estimated four to six times more animal shelters than homeless shelters."
With stereotypes squashed with statistics, Harrison stepped down off the stage to tell his story.
"At your age, I didn't know anything about homelessness," he began. Harrison explained that he came from an average American family - his mom, dad, brother and a couple of sisters. "We had everything that we needed," he said.
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