By: Vanessa Joy
An eye-opening
panel organized by ConnPIRG spoke last night in Konover Auditorium
about their experiences with homelessness. The three panelists, David,
Kate and Jeff, presented honest and real stories that touched the
hearts and minds of many in the audiences. Their testimonies reminded
listeners that homelessness has the potential to affect anyone.
"The main goal of the panel is to educate students about homelessness,
to kind of put faces to the problem, so they can really understand the
different aspects of the issue, why people live on the streets, and
kind of break through the stereotypes that people have about
homelessness," said Amanda Ploch, a 5th-semester political science and
human rights double-major, and the organizer of the event.
The first panelist of the evening, 33 year-old David was dressed in
jeans and a basketball jersey over a t-shirt. He looked like anyone
else, but his life was far from normal; he has schizophrenia. David
painted the harsh reality that many people with schizophrenia are
unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. Often they do not realize
that anything is wrong with them. Unfortunately, David's mental illness
cost him his job and gave him his first real taste of life on the
streets. His first few experiences were not pleasant. Phoenix, Ariz.
had soup kitchens that put him in "cages" and he was literally fed
behind bars. When David wasn't inside a shelter or soup kitchen, he was
outside in temperatures that were consistently soaring above 100
degrees. His experience with homelessness continue to intensify as he
moved from one state to the next, finally ending up in New York City.
David was beaten with a bat, had rocks thrown at him, was spray-painted
and urinated on. It wasn't until he was arrested and was given an
opportunity to get help for his mental illness that things started to
turn around. From his experiences and the struggles he endured, he was
able to start his own non-profit organization entitled "Until We're
Home," and recently was elected to the Board of Directors for the
National Coalition for the Homeless.
Kate's story was jarring and emotional. Not currently homeless, Kate
lived on the streets for over 11 years. She was born and raised in West
Haven, attended Albertus Magnus College, lived in Spain for a few years
and finally settled in Hartford with a husband and job. It must be
stated that up until that point she had struggled with drugs and
alcohol, but was able to get clean at the age of 23. She held the same
job for nine years and received several promotions. She attended
graduate school at UConn in order to become a drug and alcohol
counselor. But after a divorce with her husband and bouts of extreme
depression, Kate turned back to the only thing she knew to help her
cope: drugs and alcohol. These substances took her down a dark road,
leading her into a relationship with a man that offered her cocaine on
their first date. The same man also gave her HIV and Hepatitis C.
Eighteen years later she is no longer with the man, but suffers daily
with those diseases. She also has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from
the trauma of living on the streets. She was run over by a car, raped
at knife point, had a 9mm gun held to her head and was beaten a variety
of times, mostly by other homeless people. Her story however, was not
supposed to be one of sadness, but of hope and awareness. She said she
wanted people to know that you shouldn't ignore the homeless, as they
are human beings just like everyone else.
Meredith Dow, a 5th-semester English major found Kate's presentation to be the most interesting aspect of the evening.
"I though the woman Kate was really interesting," said Dow. "I mean,
she just put it right out there [saying], 'I have HIV; I'm a recovering
drug addict.' That was in your face, so it hits home."
The final panelist of the evening, John, was introduced as the 'most
requested' speaker of the night. John's story was of a boy growing up
in a middle-class family, always having all that he needed. His father
worked for the government, his mother was a teacher. He did well in
school and got a computer job right after high school. He was
successful at his job and soon became manager in the company, but years
later was laid off due to the new owner's restructuring. Time and time
again, John experienced hardships with his home burning down, his car
constantly needing to be fixed and his inability to acquire a
decent-paying job. As a result of all of these unexpected life
circumstances, John found himself living on the streets, begging people
for money and wishing that people passing by would acknowledge his
presence and talk to him. John thought that losing his home and family
was all there was to lose, but soon realized that the worst part of
being homeless was losing his dignity.
The message that was relayed by all three panelists was that of
compassion, kindness and consideration. All expressed their desires to
be treated like human beings. More than wanting food or money, they
just wanted people to talk to them, to be friendly and kind. Kerry
Comisky, a 5th-semester English major, thought that each panelist
presented the many sides to homelessness.
"I just think like each panel had a different story, like, they're so
many reasons why people are homeless, things that you don't even think
about," said Comisky. "Like the third man, John, he lived in a
middle-class family, everything was fine. He went to school, he was
educated, he had a job, and then all of the sudden, that series of
events, and you wouldn't even think that that would happen."
