Students sleep on Green for homelessness

Braving the falling temperature and brisk winter winds, about 40 University students gathered at the peace symbol last night as part of the Penn Hunger and Homelessness Week. College sophomore Katie Simons, Hunger and Homelessness Week co-coordinator, opened the evening by discussing the national need to address homelessness. "The most important thing is to raise campus awareness about homelessness." Simons said. "There is a lot of talk around campus, but we need to be willing to make personal sacrifices for the cause." Simons noted that the students were not sleeping out to pretend to be homeless. "This is a symbolic act, meant to show that we understand this problem," Simons said. College junior Helen Rosenfeld, Hunger and Homelessness Week co-coordinator, said she hoped the sleepout would force University students to think about the homelessness problems. "We saw this as an opportunity to bring attention to the homelessness issue on campus," Rosenfeld said. The first speaker was Rob Roberts who works with both Empty the Shelters project and Jobs for Peace. Roberts continually referred to his speech as a "speak out." "A speak out is designed so people can really listen and understand the issues," said Roberts. "I want everyone here to go away with a better understanding of this problem." Roberts told the group that he had been homeless up until two years ago and explained his struggle "to get back on [his] feet." "It wasn't people doing for me, it was people showing me how to do," said Roberts. "I was surprised when people took the time to stop and help me out." Roberts emphasized that people have to work together and be able to depend on each other in order to put an end to the homeless problem. "If you don't stop for one minute and think with your heart, the problem is not going to go away," she said. University graduate Philip Wider, founder of Empty the Shelters, told the students that he has spent six years fighting homelessness. "The idea of [Empty the Shelters] was to bring students and the community together," Wider said. "Shelters aren't the answers to homelessness, we need a new strategy." After the speeches, a candlelight vigil was held while the University Gospel Choir sang about the future. "I came out tonight because I wanted to find out what more there was for me to do to help," Engineering freshman Heather Koehler said. Later the students broke into small groups and discussed the national and local problems of homelessness. "I wonder why more people didn't come out," College senior Rebecca Freund said. "We live in West Philadelphia and you can't ignore this problem."