Homeless friends find community spirit at park
By Tiffany Woods
/1 y ( V.V^VI f),) y i rnmnlil
Iii the West University Neighborhood Park in southeast
Eugene, a group of men have gathered for the morning
Two sit at a picnic table examining some local bead
work At another nearby table, four others talk about the
day's news A familiar face arrives and is immediately
welcomed, not just because of the food he brings, but
because he is a friend A bag of i urn flakes is quit klv
opened, burritos are handed out and some Quaker < hew \
granola bars are passed around
And another dev Ix-gms for Eugene's homeless Hut this
group of friends represents |ust a sin.ill portion of the t ity’s
homeless population Rich Weinman, the planning and
community development manager for Eugene, says a l't'it
survey found that between t>*H) and 2.000 homeless peo
ple live in Eugene and Springfield
But these statistics cannot begin to describe the lives
of those |x*uple Tony, a 44-year-old veteran who has lived
in Eugene for nine years and calls himself "the Headman. '
offers his own perspective of homelessness
"People are homeless by choir*." tie says "People don't
want to lx* in the rat race Who wants to rater to a srx iety
you don't like7"
And Tony is tired of the rat rar e. He was born in
Arkansas and has spent 2it years traveling around North
ern Californio and Oregon, sharing experiences with oth
er homeless friends. Ile.has a son, a college graduate, who
has offered him n place to live, but Tony refuses the invi
tation He does not consider himself homeless, however,
because he say* he has mode the decision to live the life
he does.
"1 don't call myself homeless because I know the dif
ferent o between not making it and giving up," he sa\s
Tony's friend Frank, who has lived in Kugene since
the mid- 1‘tHOs, agrees He prefers to < all himself house
less" bet ause he says he has always had a car to live in
"I i ould have had an apartment, but I < hose the life I
was living at the time, Frank says
Tony says he chose to be homeless because America
drove him to it, and now he is "disgusted" w ith the < otin
tr\ As a result, he supports himself finnm lallv and does
not ai i opt governmental assistance
"I don't do welfare because I'm against the government,
he savs He doesn't I relieve in taking advantage of things
he doesn't need, such as shelter at the local mission
Instead, Tony prefers to take care of himself He per
forms handiwork jobs such as construction and also sells
tread work On a good day . he savs he i an sell up to $100
worth of treads
Despite his self-pns laimed independence from the gov
eminent, he (relieves the government should provide shel
ter for the homeless and "get them off the stn*et He says
the homeless don't want much, |ust a rrrof over their heads
or a place they can fix up.
Tony and his friends are particularly upset with
Eugene city officials. They say the city is trying to drive
I hi’ homeless out of lh« park by turning off the water, by
not cleaning the outhouse frequently and by letting the
grass turn brown
f rank savs it is unhealthy and inhumane Meanwhile.
Patric k Charles, a student at the University who fre
quently visits with his friends in the park, says the* city
is i ommitting "genocide” against the homeless
Hut Weinman say s camping in any city park is illegal,
and the presence of homeless people in these parks
makes the public uneasy
West University Park is a real serious problem.” he
says "People are uncomfortable about using it
Regardless of their problems and frustration with the
c 11\. Tons and his friends continue to survive though
Tony says it is a constant struggle One reason they have
survived is the1 friendships they have formed People
respect and help ear h other, he says
"Out here I know who my bothers and sisters are.”
Tom says "I i an get help out here. You see more love
passed around here than vou can in any office building
It's a lieautiful world down here.”
As Tony speaks, more people arrive, offering anything
from a can of tomato sauce to friendly conversation. The
group expands and moves onto the wilting grass They
sit in a circle like n hunch of schoolchildren playing
Duck, Duck, Goose. Hut tills is a cirt le of community —
a circle of eternal friendship — that even the dying grass
cannot kill.
Wit SOW CHAf*t» »>• l"WW
Stevie, an Amazon resident, sets up a tent Monday night at the OSPIRGs Hunger and Homelessness Sleep-out.
OSPIRG tries to raise awareness with sleep-out
By Daniel West
OrttQon Patty (merakl
OSPIRG sponsored the annual Hunger and
Homelessness Sleep-out on the I MP hast
lawn Monday night, hoping to bring aware
ness of homelessness to the attention of the
students on this uunpus and the community
as a whole.
"1 want students to realize that the issue of
homelessness is a serious reality." said
Kalpana Krishnninurthy. co-chairperson of
OSPIRG'g hunger and homelessness cam
paign. "As students, we think that we ll nev
er become homeless because we're getting
degrees. But these people have degrees, jobs
and families. I realized that if I don't help
them, then who'll help me If I’m ever home
less?"
Monday night a group from OSPIRG and
local homeless people camped outside for 12
hours, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.nt. The sleep-out
included a candlelight vigil for the homeless,
speakers from the community, a discussion,
music and coffee, and a breakfast with reflec
tion.
The group bought tents and sleeping tuigs
to keep themselves warm and dry through the
rainy night.
"I hope that tonight people realize what it's
like not to have a roof and to be out in the
cold It's not much to ask (students) to spend
one night outside when the homeless spend
years outside in the cold." said Hannah (jin
non. co-chairperson lor hunger ami home
lessness.
Another issue that will impact the home
less in Eugene is the lJniversity's plan to tear
down Amazon family housing. The housing
currently provides students with affordable
rates. A double-occupancy apartment iosts
$125 per month for students attending the
University.
However, the University is continuing with
plans to demolish the present structures and
replace them with new. more expensive apart
ments OSPIRG fours these new apartments
will force many of the current residents into
homelessness. Some of the residents have tak
en action to block the reconstruction of the
apartments by attempting to have the Ama
zon apartments declared a historical land
mark.
"Many of the people who live there can't
afford to pay the high price of rent, especial
ly when they have to pay so much for tuition."
Krishnamurlhy said. “Also, we want the stu
dents to be aware that (the University) can
make a decision like this; that is what makes
the rest of the students so safe. We're just as
vulnerable."
The sleep-out is in conjunction with the
National Homeless Awareness week. A table
was set up in the EMU Tuesday for petition
signing against the destruction of Amazon
family housing. Also, brochures and pam
phlets were available on various issues of
homelessness
Another table will In* In the EMU today to
collect food and clothing for the homeless.
On Thursday, there will Ihi a hunger banquet
for Oxfam. a national organization that sup
ports the homeless, in the EMU Fir Room at
7 p m Tickets are on sale at the EMU Main
Desk, for $:i
"Ten percent of the population is eating
well; the other 00 percent is eating either
beans and rice daily or beans and water,"
Krishnaunirthy said. "So them will Ihi a ran
dom drawing at the door where some people
will eat a catered meal and the others will
beans and rice. This is to demonstrate how
homeless people survive off of minimal food."
On Friday. Amazon student housing is
sponsoring "A March for fust it*" in the EMU
Breezeway The event will occur in opposi
tion to the University's decision to tear down
the housing project.
In the future, the homelessness and
hunger committee is planning to form a
national student coalition against hunger
and homelessness. It wants to form a group
that wilt create a working organization to
help combat hunger and homelessness on a
national level.
The hunger and homelessness committee
is always looking for students who are will
ing to help; it has meetings every Thursday
to discuss issues. If interested, contact
OSPIRG in EMU Suite 1
HOMELESS
Continued from Page 1
Saxon said ho knows many
of the students who have been
harassed or disturbed by
homeless are scared of going
to the police because of retal
iations.
Although the problems
continue to fall largely on the
shoulders of local law
enforcement, Eugene has a
broad spectrum of non-profit
and church-oriented services
providing food, shelter and
services to the homeless.
The Mission is the transient
service in Eugene where both
men and women can receive
shelter and food, but, like
most places in the country,
the Mission has elaborate and
stringent rules.
Beds go first to those who
have not been there for two
months, and you can stay for
only two nights in any two
month period. No shelter is
given to those who are not
sober, and you are required to
listen to sermons and partic
ipate in prayer.
Saxon said about 95 per
cent of the homeless he has
spoken to about shelter have
a place to stay, explaining that
many will go together for a
night at a cheap motel.
Many believe that it is soci
ety's responsibility to increase
the services for those truly in
need, and the Eugene City
Council has a Shelter Work
Croup that is discussing the
need for shelters and housing
opportunities for homeless
people.
Last year it opened a tem
porary c ar-camp for the win
ter. and this year the same
car-camp will open near
Autzen Stadium Nov. 22. The
camp will accommodate SO
people and will be a big help
for the many families on the
road who are looking for
work.
Meanwhile, reports from
across the country indicate
that the number of homeless
people is increasing. An esti
mated three million people
are sleeping on the streets,
and nothing is being done to
decrease this number.
EPD Sgt. Dennis Baker said
the homeless will always be
a part of their workload.
“They have always been
and will always be on our
streets." he said.