The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: Opinions

What can I say about hunger and homelessness that has not already been said before? Yes, it is perpetuated by a lack of affordable housing. True, poor access to education exacerbates the issue. Also, we have enough food to feed every American, but the proper distribution is the biggest roadblock. This is what you know.

Now let's talk about what some of you may not know. I had the honor of being able to attend the East Coast Student Conference on Hunger and Homelessness with a group of six other Colby students in Boston. This is what we have learned. First, I suggest that you all check out "bum fights" on youtube.com to witness what some America considers to be comedy today. After you watch a couple clips, get nauseated and vomit, contemplate what it means to have the entire DVD sold in chain stores like Barnes & Noble and Borders.

"Affordable" housing is supposed to be set at 30% of a family's income. "Affordable" is actually not that affordable, however, when the government takes the median income for the baseline and the monthly rent becomes close to $800 a month. On a minimum wage job an employee can make $20,000 a year, depending on the region. Statistics have proven, however, that to raise a family of four with a very modest lifestyle, the suggested annual income is $61,000. On top of that, one out of every four homeless people is a child.

The stereotype persists that homeless people are lazy and should get a job. After all, with an education your opportunities are limitless! Wrong. There is more than one homeless guest with a Masters degree (no exaggeration) at the shelters in Manhattan. In fact, a formerly displaced person once met an acquaintance at a Manhattan homeless shelter who was expecting his PhD. Additionally, on the topic of shelters, there are four to six times as many animal shelters as there are homeless shelters.

Displacement can happen to anyone at anytime. If a child is expected and a father falls ill, rent may go unpaid for six weeks, at which point a family may be evicted. Young families only have so many savings and certain cities (in the Midwest for example) have very little sympathy for "vagabonds". In some states it is actually illegal to have no home and no job.

So who is Dave? Dave is a formerly homeless man who has experienced the whole process. After giving an informative talk on his journey at the conference, a student recognized him later in a pizza joint and exclaimed, "Hey, you're the homeless guy!" To the student's embarrassment he responded, "Actually I prefer Dave." With a stable home or without, he was always Dave. We lose battles everyday against hunger and homelessness, but we lose a much bigger battle if we go to bed at night without thinking, "Dammit, what can I do?"

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