Students volunteer as shelter

Giving homeless children encouragement and support is not a typical weekend night activity for most University students. But since last year, University students, along with students from Temple University and the University of the Arts, have been doing just that -- volunteering at the Ridge Avenue Center for homeless men as part of the YuHu! program. The program's co-founder Charles Moleski said the students have been teaching homeless children creativity through various art projects on Tuesday mornings and Friday nights, while the children's parents receive drug and alcohol counselling at the center. Moleski said the artwork lets the children develop interpersonal skills and allows them to express their feelings in more constructive outlets. College freshman Nicole Hill, who participated in the project for the first time last Friday evening, found YuHu! rewarding. "I felt like I was doing something important," Hill said. "I could see the difference in the children. You would say they did something well and they smiled." College freshman Karina Sliwinski said she was originally concerned with how the kids would respond to the volunteers. But Sliwinski said she is impressed with the impact the program had on the kids. "The kids are amazing," Sliwinski said. "They have so much energy." For recovering addict Denise Walker, the program has been invaluable. She said she wants her two children, Stephany and Terrell, to continue participating in the YuHu! program because it is "helping to keep me clean." Walker added that YuHu! has helped her find out what her children enjoy doing and what aids them in their development. "The kids get more attention here than they might get at home," Walker said. "[The volunteers] have more patience than I do. The children are happy to see them coming." Sylvester Outley, president and founder of Self Inc., the corporation which runs the drug counselling programs in seven homeless shelters in the Philadelphia area, said he has been impressed with YuHu's work. Outley said the main problem for his organization has been a lack of supervision for the children while the parents meet in self-help groups. Before YuHu! began the art classes, Outley said there was "total chaos" at the center. Many times parents had to leave the counselling to watch their children, he said. "I am very happy to have [the YuHu! volunteers] here," Outley said. "The volunteers have shown the kids a sense of humanity and human needs."