A panel of three homeless individuals shared their experiences of living on the streets with 10 ASU students Wednesday at the Student Services Building in honor of Hunger and Homeless Week.
The Faces of the Homeless panel, sponsored annually by the ASU Community Service Center, served as a way for ASU students to listen and learn about poverty from those who struggle with it every day.
"It puts a face to homelessness, and it is more powerful than reading it in a book," Community Service Program coordinator Anita Verdugo said.
Students asked a range of questions, including how they became homeless, if they have families and what they hoped to gain by participating in the panel.
"The turnout was smaller, but it doesn't make it less important," Community Service volunteer Matt Desmond said.
Panelist Uriah Laskowsky, a 25-year-old man from Cleveland, Ohio, said the Salvation Army has worked hard to help him.
"They have listings of where we can go to take showers," Laskowsky said. "They also let us use their address so we can get our mail."
Although there are resources available for those who live on the streets, some circumstances are unavoidable.
"For most of the them it's a stroke of bad luck that's sent them to homelessness," Verdugo said. "Something as quick as being laid off or having large medical expenses."
One factor in homelessness is the lack of affordable housing available, Verdugo added.
The Community Service Center will be hosting events through Friday to help raise awareness about the homeless community.
"We're not trying to cause chaos," Laskowsky said. "We're just trying to live life like everybody else."
Today's events include a Hitting the Street program at 6 p.m. to hand out hygiene products to the homeless. A Borders and Biases program at 7 p.m. will discuss the impacts of immigration on low-income families.
Students interested in participating in a Homeless Animal Shelter Outreach program can meet 11:45 a.m. Friday on the Student Services Lawn to learn more about the situation of homeless animals.
Reach Christina Higdon at grimm119@aol.com.
