Volunteer LSU members surveyed homeless people Feb. 22 through Feb. 24 as part of their partnership with Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless in the 100,000 Homes Campaign.
The national project’s website says its goal is to “house 100,000 of the country’s most vulnerable and long-term homeless individuals and families over the next three years.”
Catherine Sens, VLSU Civic and Social Awareness chair, said VLSU contributed to the campaign by visiting shelters, such as St. Vincent de Paul’s Bishop Ott Shelter, the St. Agnes Emergency Shelter and the Living Waters Shelter, where they surveyed homeless people to find the most “at risk.”
“Based on how they answer and if they’ve been homeless for a long time, that makes them very vulnerable,” Sens said.
Sens and Leighanna Clark, VLSU member, said some homeless people opened up to reveal other aspects of their lives and the struggle of living without a home, separated from family.
Clark said one person told her he had HIV, hepatitis and had been shot. He told her he has been staying for three months at Living Waters, which charges homeless people to stay overnight, and works odd jobs around town to pay.
Sometimes, he told her, the people who run the shelter do not make him pay.
“They were just so completely honest, and I’ve never talked to people like that before,” Clark said.
Sens said she was intrigued by the lives of homeless people.
“One woman really opened up to me about her depression,” Sens said. “I’m curious about the backstory and how the situation became what it is.”
Sens said she was surprised by the responsiveness of the people she surveyed because homeless people are stereotypically not noted for their intellect.
“All day it was people who understood what I was talking about,” she said.
One of the questions on the survey asks about family situations and if any children are living with homeless people.
“One woman said she had six children, but they aren’t living with her, so it’s something that the survey doesn’t grasp,” Sens said. “That’s something that would make you appear more vulnerable on paper.”
Clark said many of the people she spoke to, especially men, were estranged from their families. She said several men told her they had wives who left them and took their children because people were more likely to pity a woman and child living on the street than a man.
“I would think if you were homeless you would want to hang onto every family member you have,” Clark said.
Clark also said she went to a shelter specifically for veterans, many of whom told her they were educated. Clark said she was sad to see people who had served the country now living in such devastating predicaments.
Clark said many veterans are “bitter toward the country now.”
The survey included questions about living situations, health history and family members. VLSU members presented $5 McDonald’s gift cards to the people they interviewed.
 
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Contact Andrea Gallo at [email protected]