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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1991)
Eugene shelters offer temporary solutions By Rene DeCair ! ttux ,1 ! A' .t’o ? :1? * Kermit the Irtig Ml* turn in a stuffed toddy I><•.!r oil top of tin dresser in tIn- small, dimly lit room Other stuffed animals line the windowsill* and rest on I tic furniture In the four corners of the room The i!<) or more stuffed .mimuls sit motionless. stritfegltiil.lv plftted. looking .is il they lire standing guiird On the dark blue i out li ugainst the wall is ,i .1 ligfit blue throw pillow embroidered with, llome Sweet Home Next to (lie (.out h sit two suit ( uses thill give evident e to ei ther 11 rec ent 11 r r i vii I or 11 planned departure by the in habitants Margaret Walton III. tails this room m a Kugene homeless family shelter "home" for now Walton and her four kids aged li to It. left tiehlnd their house and abusive husband and father in (dupiille a month ago to stay with relatives in l-.u gene Hut alter hassles with her rel alives' landlords, she and tier family were furred to seek shel Icf in nr* .1 i bundles before ar riving ii! Ihf lamilv Shelter House Now she mul In r kills uff among thf ini reusing mim tier of homeless [M-oplf in l.une (bounty Ihf numlrer of pimple with mil homes has lrt( reused 1 r» percent since 1*187. according lo Kugene Ktnergeni v Housing si.itislii s Siisiin Ban. emergen i y housing ilnector, said there are an average of MM) people in till' county housed 10 shelters eat h day Moreover, last year mure t him 1 .tititi fain tiles in l.ane ( ountv requested shelter, hut only KM) were able to receive shelter ollered by one ol the seven programs Kugene Liner gem v Housing manages, whit h Includes shelters lor families and mentally ill adults An estimated It) peri enl of the homeless are mentally ill. said Jim- baton, a case manager lor the bane County Mental Health Department He said there are an estimated 1IM) to HIM) mentally ill homeless in the county and approximately •I.IHHI to 8.000 in (lie state Han said It s impossible to gel exat I numbers Isa ause it is dll ■ ms BBS VI ■MMII f'SOtO by Arvy* ibinw Margaret Walton, who took her four children end left her abusive husband a month ago. calls this room in a Eugene homeless family shelter home " for now. (unit In count people who sleep under bridges and places where they are not easily found or recognized Hut while people may ills agree over figures on the num ber of actual homeless, most people working w ith the home less agree the problem is getting worse, with the main culprit, they say, being a lac i. ol afford able housing I've been trying really hard to find u house," Walton said, adding stie Is hoping to fimi out tins week tl she will he able to rent a house she wants "I feel like It's a big rip-off," Walton said of the housing market "My kids have birth days coming up I have prob lems having a party for them The family Shelter lets rest dents stay at the shelter for 1*0 Turn to SHELTER Page 10 OSPIRG helping out homeless By Colleen Pohhg £ morale! 'Report** OSPIKCs sixth annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is a chant e lor students 1 see ish.it It is like to be without .1 home without I.i ■ r-.iI without hope The hunger and homelessness group ■, task force w ithin OSPIKC. is planning many .11 tivitu : >r the na lionally recognized awareness we, k N. IHotJ, to make students and the cornmumtv aware ; the many facets of the homeless issue On Monday, the group is hosting a lino e t.ii'the KMl' |-'ir Room at 7 pm The movie. In m IVn-.l , osts two (tins of food, which OSPIKG will donate h'ood for Lane County On Tuesday, participants will get t experience homelessness at least for one night 0 they camp out in the KMIJ Courtyard "The objective is to raise awareness Imili with the people and also to make it a media even!." said Jim Trill oar. co-coordinator of the task force I want peo ple walking by to see what we're doing " If li ruins, the group will sel up a temporary shelter Partic ipants will also have access to the i Mil’s bath room facilities. "Although students cannot know what 1! is like to fie homeless, it will show that students ar concerned about the issue enough to do something about it," Truloarsaid. Before leaving the event the next morning, partic i pants will share their experience1 in an informal re flee tion time. 1'hey will also he assigned spec die tasks in the fight against homelessness, Truloar said "We want to leave people with a sense of I c an do something about this problem,’ " he said On Wednesday, from 10 a m. to f> p iti . OSPIKC will hold a personal produc ts' drive in front ol the Safeway store on lHth and Pearl There people are encouraged lo drop off items like soap and toothpaste. which lo< .tI homeless shelters am in need of fleginning W'dnesdav night, the Ox! on Smeric.i fast will take pl.ic t• Ovf.im America .1 non profit ageni y funds self-help development propels in the United Status anti Third World countries Thu purpose of the i hoof' (K' mi ! ■■! is twofold- to raise money and to allow people to experience.'for 1 short time, what Tt is like to he hungry, 11 ulo.it said Half of the money participants would hue spent on food for those o’ ) hours is donated to the organi/al a; the other half- will go to Foot) for Fane (Inuntv Truloar say s the go.il is to get MM) people signed up to Ins! and raise S-.MH) " The problem of homelessness loui lies evorytxsH s lives," he said 'We want everylxidy to help he a part of the solution, whether it is writing .1 letter, donating nioney or helping others to he iw are ol the issue The fast will end with a banquet for portu ip.mts that depit ts the reality ol food distribution in different countries. Truloar said Truloar says the "Third World wall consist of most of the participants < mwdmg in a corner eating a meager portion of rii e wit ft their hands, while the See ond and First Worlds" will lx- served with abundant; lavish meals The objective of the banquet, which will be held Wednesday at 7 p m in thin Newman ( enter, 1HM) Fan erald St., is to have the participants gain a sense of the fextd distribution problem on the planet. Truloar said Hunger group co coordinator ( had Mi firi.de said the group wants to achieve two levels lor the week. I lie first one ixung .1 fund raiser lor (Klein America and lo cal charities, the second level is getting people in volved in the issue and creating public awareness and education Local homeless frustrate and touch the hearts of merchants, students By Colleen Pohltg and Jake Berg Emerald Stall Manimu. Thu young woman lakes a dollar mil of her wallel and (lands it lo l.isu in ex i hange lor a curd The i ards are no Hallmarks, (nil l.lsa offers another lo Ihe University student " lake another." l.lsa said "I don't w ant lo rip you off or nothin' l.lsa sells the homemade cards depi< I ing images of peai e signs and marijuana leaves so she can earn money lo buy food "I gel hungry when not tody will huv these stupid i ards," l.isu said "Then I huve lo pit k trash The student's actions are a gixid re flw turn of (lif sympathy the University student IxwH sometimes seems to ftx;I toward (he street people of tilth Avenue just off ( itmpus, hut it in no wav typifies the view held hv ill of the students and many of the street's merchants Tills w eek is rei ognt/.eii as Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, hut many of the men li.ints will tie the first to say the street people of tilth Avenue are not homeless or are homeless try i holt e I don't refer to them as homeless people I i all them hums, said I’ete IV terson, owner of the Ked Rooster Barber Shop ' Ifie ones you've got hanging around here, they're not home loss Absolutely homeless hy choice, said Kit hard (ireene. to owner o! Rain laws C)ptit :s 'The real needy |><•<>|>1 <- an not the ones out on the street Varied real turns The mixed re,i< lions of students and community toward the street people are as varied as the population of the street people themselves The homeless in bugene don't have motivation. said Sean Me L.aughlin. a 1'mversitv sophomore in pre-advertis mg You see the same people here dav after dav Altfiougfi students walk, by street peo ple every day, many experience differ ent leelings of sympathy, frustration or sometimes nothing at all 1 always wonder what sort ol history they have whal fur Ion. have leej thorn lo being on llii! strool." said Hoathor Wood sum, u sophomore in anthropolo gy 'll bothers mo that thoy have; to livo that way whon thoy havo no choice “ Others believe tho homoloss cannot ho pinpointed to one s<x ini group "The economy is so had that it is fort trig tfu*so people out of their jobs it's all segments of our society," said harry Hanoko, a high school toucher "I also see the problem getting a lot worse be fore it gets hotter Hanoko said he believes a reasonable solution to street people sleeping wher ever they choose is for the i ity to set aside public lands so they can i amp However, Hanoko said in order for that to work, the areas would need to lie pa trolled because there are "had people, just us there are good, In those popula lions." And joining these populations seem to have become more easily accessible, said David Strother, a junior in politic id science and Spanish "When vuu'm living paycheck to pay check und vou happen to lose one, it doesn't seem too difficult anymore to become homeless," Strother said Still others think the majority ol street people or the homeless are Vietnam vet erans Handouts Kevin l ; is and Nathan Holden are good example* of the generosity many students show toward panhandlers Both s.iy they give to panhandlers whenever they liuve spare change " Ihev're just trying to get by,'' said Holden, a junior in sociology Ellis, a junior in English. said he does not ( are what the panhandlers do with the money they're given "1 pretty much leave It up to them Ellis said "11 they're dumb enough to (buy alcohol or drugs), then that's their prerogative " Men bants s.iv people giving handouts to the panhandlers is the rause of the large population of street people on 1 :ith Avenue "(Students and the University) should not he so liberal or so ai cepling of pan lorn to REACTIONS Page 10 Zeus lolls passerby he s on a sociological expedition and will eventually write a psychology paper about his experiences HOMELESS Continued from Page 1 They're th<> uni's you walk by <lav after il.iv. m 11 rush to i hiss or .to meet a fricmt lor lunch on lath Avenue Itie ones you rusli hv, <* i a sion,illy pausing to dig some change out ol your po< ket for thirin' The ones you wonder about Who do they think they are mum tiling to' Or wtiy don't they pist i lean up their ait and get a job? Or why is he wearing a dress' Or simply, who are these people' They are stri-et people Many of the street people in the I adversity area appear to he incoherent and |usl plain dif ferent from the everyday clti/cn However, wlii'n at tually talking to these people, the mu jonty of the time they have coherent, normal" responses We are real people," said Ron, a homeless person "We re not thieves, we're not murder ers If we Wert' thieves, we'd Is' rIt ll In talking with some street people, the re spouses aren't the everyday i onversatlons a passerby might ex per I 1 think a I'I'O puked me up while I was hitch-hiking and deposited me on a different road," Zeus said " That road led me to here, and the ones in the t i t) had in mind tor me to he a sidewalk statue here Many street people don't seem to mind sleeping outside during I lie summer months A S7r> fine for sleeping outdoors in Kilgene parks, on sidewalks or most other areas makes find trig a place difficult When winter r nines around, the homeless attempt to find shelter to keep dry "It's () K. when it's good w eat her. hut when it rains I have In (iivit me .mil Marie will) .1 tarp. I lowlioy said You crash anywhere you (>in when it's finning, said l.(irrv, another homeless person You gel r,iIimi tip by spiders you guys have sonic big spiders hern I ikxI. something mosl li-ml h> lake lor grant oil, is an I'voryiliiy ihallenge lor street pnoplr Many will bum change. ' or panhandle, am) others will dig through the garbage lor a mr.il Many strivt-people agree dial University slu denis don't harass lliein, yet they feel they are not understood that they are not looked at as people I love, bale and desire pis! like everyone else, said Michael, a homeless person who plays his flute for money Others say they yvish people would stop staring at them just bn ause I hey are on the streets I wish everyone would |ust stop, reins and take a look at themselves instead of me. said a homeless person who wanted to lie called John Doe "The thing I don't like is when people say. (lei a |ob,' said Miller, a homeless person I'm looking for ysork but there's nothin' out there " What do some id the street people on 1 till Avenue want out ot I lie' I want the reality around me to liecome a little freer and looser, Lisa said Others have more material things in mind I vs ant a horse, a couple )>u kasses, and I’ll go out in the woods and build myself a i abin and grow my pot," Ron said "That way no body could bother me -O-VWgJLv.NOV.Z^ooMi - ’ ) V>VCBEjNw ’ sATURm EWU B^V 8-.00 P-^- fc .^:‘ TICKETS ON SALE NOW $11 Students, $15 General Public EMU Mam Desk Store CD World Face the Music Record Garden 3 GERMAN AUTO ' SERVICE, INC. “27 years of Quality Service” Mercedes • BMW • Volkswagon Audi • Datsun • Toyota 342-2912 2025 Franklin Blvd. Eugene, Oregon 97403 f JOIN OREGON WEST~1 | & get 10 FREE Tans! | ? (A $25 Value) j l 485-1624 SPECIALS FOR YOU EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK! One Item Small Pizza! 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