ARTICLES

College students have experience of being homeless

By Steve Neill
Of The Catholic Virginian

Four students of Hampden-Sydney College recently experienced what it is like to be homeless on the streets of Washington, D.C. through a program known as the Urban Plunge.

Bob Zupanek, Catholic campus minister at Hampden-Sydney and Longwood University in Farmville, also participated in the week-long program sponsored by the National Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy group.

“I don’t ask the students to do anything I wouldn’t do myself or haven’t already done,” Mr. Zupanek told The Catholic Virginian.

He let his hair grow long to better give the appearance of one who may have been down and out financially and perhaps blend in better with others who are homeless.

The four Hampden-Sydney students joined a group from American University which had 15 students. The participants were literally out on the streets for a 48-hour period without any watch, wallet, or cell phone which they left back at St. Aloysius parish’s Father McKenna Center.

They basically had just the clothes on their backs and “homeless essentials like a blanket and a rope to help carry the blankets,” said Brett Chonko, a sophomore.

“The rest of the week we were in a homeless shelter in more or less a staff capacity, serving meals,” said Cameron Auker, a freshman.

“I think one of the goals was to educate the middle class person and provide an awareness of what it’s like to be homeless,” Mr. Auker said.

“Day to day, how do you face it?” he asked. “How do you work your way out of it.”

Bryce Auker, the fourth student who is a brother of Cameron, was not available for the interview by The Catholic Virginian.

It was an experience which varied from person to person.

“There is so much happening to you that you almost go on overload,” Mr. Zupanek said. “Everyone’s got a different story.”

The 20 participants split up into seven different groups during the two-day period of being homeless. Some slept at night on the sidewalks under a department store awning for protection against the elements.

“Cameron and I rode buses the first night and we took the longest routes,” Mr. Chonko said.

“We could be on a bus for 45 minutes and then everyone had to get off. But then we’d wait for the next bus.”

The two got stranded in the Anacostia neighborhood of Southeast Washington.

“We were very lucky because we had company and we just chatted the pass the time,” Mr. Chonko explained.

“It was 35 degrees, cold and windy,” he continued. “It would have been miserable if you didn’t have the pleasure of company.”

The students had received advice from people at the shelter on North Capitol Street, six blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

“Formerly homeless people who used to live out on the streets provided hints on what to do if the police came by,” Mr. Auker said.

“They’d tell us ‘You might want to say this as opposed to that.’”

During the day the two found that the D.C. Public Library was a place to go to be indoors. Here they could take notes on their experiences while they were fresh in their mind.

“There was a lot of stuff the Lord really taught me,” said Andrew Basinger, a sophomore who was part of the Urban Plunge.

“One thing that really struck me is that the homeless are really not that different from you and I.

“They had made bad choices which led to them eventually being on the streets.

“Everyone I talked to above the age of 45 or 50 would tell me “I don’t feel just because I’m homeless, I shouldn’t be helpless. I’ve got to become sick and tired of being sick and tired.’”

But a few of those they met as homeless did not appear bothered by their state.

“One guy told me ‘right now, I’m living free. I’m doing what I want to do,’” Mr. Basinger said.

A few blamed the government for their situation and others blamed other people for causing them to be homeless.

The students learned that a sizeable percentage of the homeless people they met have jobs, but that rent and housing costs are high in Washington.

Other stereotypes were shattered by their experience.

“You can find educated homeless people,” Mr. Basinger said.

Mr. Chonko met a man who had been a lawyer, but gave up his law practice to become a mechanic.

“But he ended up on the street,” he said, adding that he never learned why it happened.

“There are some who are trying to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and others who just abuse the system,” Mr. Chonko said. “It’s really a case by case issue of deserved charity.”

He gave an example of John who previously had a job in management.

“He lost his job and the very same day his house burned down and he didn’t have the insurance in his name,” Mr. Chonko said, adding that the insurance policy had remained in the name of the previous owner.

“Some just have tough luck,” Mr. Auker said.

“Some have one catastrophe after another,” Mr. Zupanek added.

The four college students admitted that as young white males of college age they stood out among the homeless, but still were treated well by those they met.

“They’d ask me questions like ‘what are you doing on the street?” Mr. Chonko said.

The week-long stay in Washington was a learning experience.

“First of all, I learned a lot about the importance of community and family and how little material possessions have to do with happiness,” Mr. Chonko said.

“It could happen to any one of us,” Mr. Basinger said. “Homelessness is non-discriminatory.”

Mr. Chonko said he learned how important family is.

“Reinvest in your family,” he wrote in reflections of his experience.

“If the homeless had family to rely on, there would be no huge outreach operations to feed and clothe and care for hundreds of homeless.”

Mr. Zupanek said he learned from watching the students in their actions at the Father McKenna Shelter which is part of the ministry of St. Aloysius Church.

“I got a lot out of just watching these four guys doing what they were doing,” he explained.

“They were truly Christ to the people they met. They lived the Beatitudes.

“They didn’t hesitate to help where they could.”

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