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
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