“When I lost my job and house I thought I’d lost everything,” said speaker John Harris at the Faces of Homelessness Panel on April 15. “I didn’t realize I had something more to lose, and that was my dignity.” The panel was one of the events that made up Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. The week kicked off with the Hunger Banquet on Monday, and continued with other events such as a discussion on hate crimes against the homeless, a food and clothing drive, and a table lunch discussion.

The purpose of the week was to not only raise awareness of these issues, but to get students motivated to end them.

“The fact that there are over 1,000 students in Guilford county who are homeless, the fact that the winter emergency shelters closed on April 1st leaving many homeless people without anywhere to go, the fact that there are people who resort to sleeping in alleyways, the woods, and in the parks – we should be protesting and screaming because of the inhumanity of the situation of homelessness,” said sophomore and event organizer Juliet Carrington in an e-mail interview. “There are more animal shelters than there are homeless shelters. Something is not right.”

The panel, led by Michael O’Neill, director of the Faces of Homelessness Speakers Bureau, aimed to personalize and humanize the issue of homelessness.

“After this, in a couple of weeks, you don’t remember the statistics I tell you, you remember the stories and people you meet,” said O’Neill.

However, O’Neill did share some startling statistics: 3.5 million people experienced homelessness in the United States in 2008, 1.5 million of which were children.

The panel featured three men and one woman, all of whom were formerly or currently homeless. One by one, David Harris, Tim Hutchinson, Tonda Osteen and John Harris shared the stories of their paths into and out of homelessness.

“Homeless people were familiar to me, but though I saw them, I didn’t really see them as people,” said David Harris, a resident of Washington, D.C. “I didn’t associate with the homeless; I didn’t make any effort to find out what they were like as human beings. I believed they were different from the people I knew and therefore it was okay to (treat them like that). I believed that right up until I became one of them.”

Harris became homeless after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure and suffering a stroke, which prevented him from working. His health problems were a result of high blood pressure, which went undiagnosed because Harris did not have health insurance and could not afford to go to the doctor.

In addition to high blood pressure, Harris also suffered from depression, which worsened with his health.

“My parents probably would have let me stay with them indefinitely and they definitely would not have wanted me on the streets, but my depression did,” said Harris. “It told me I was worthless and did not deserve to be in a nice warm house.”

Harris then lived on the streets.

“I was the guy lugging all my life, all my belongings, in plastic bags,” said Harris. “I was a lot of stereotypes and the homeless people I knew became people to me because on an average day, the only people who interacted with me were soup kitchen volunteers and other homeless people.”

That theme – the shunning of the homeless by people who have not experienced it – ran through many of the stories.

“Those things (being cold and hungry) didn’t bother me the way people’s treatment did, the way a mother would pull her child protectively toward her as I walked down the street,” said John Harris, also from Washington, D.C. “I found out what it was like to be treated like a second-class citizen in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.”

Eventually, both John and David got involved with Street Sense, a homeless newspaper, which had positive effects on both men’s lives.

“It salvaged some of my self esteem,” said John, who sold the paper on the street.

Street Sense published David’s poetry, and as a result of that exposure, he will be publishing his first collection this year.

Those who attended the panel found it both educational and moving.

“I thought it was very informative and eye-opening and it really did give me a new perspective on what a homeless person looks like and is,” said sophomore Christie Atlee. “It kind of gave me a better idea of what the path to homelessness is like and how quick you can go down it.”

Others were more motivated towards action, even in small ways.

“(It’s) the little things you can do,” said junior Ben Storey. “(There’s) something that one of the speakers said, that even if you can’t give change on the corner or do anything to change it, just acknowledging them as a person and saying hi (makes a difference).

“When I lost my job and house I thought I’d lost everything,” said speaker John Harris at the Faces of Homelessness Panel on April 15. “I didn’t realize I had something more to lose, and that was my dignity.” The panel was one of the events that made up Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. The week kicked off with the Hunger Banquet on Monday, and continued with other events such as a discussion on hate crimes against the homeless, a food and clothing drive, and a table lunch discussion.

The purpose of the week was to not only raise awareness of these issues, but to get students motivated to end them.

“The fact that there are over 1,000 students in Guilford county who are homeless, the fact that the winter emergency shelters closed on April 1st leaving many homeless people without anywhere to go, the fact that there are people who resort to sleeping in alleyways, the woods, and in the parks – we should be protesting and screaming because of the inhumanity of the situation of homelessness,” said sophomore and event organizer Juliet Carrington in an e-mail interview. “There are more animal shelters than there are homeless shelters. Something is not right.”

The panel, led by Michael O’Neill, director of the Faces of Homelessness Speakers Bureau, aimed to personalize and humanize the issue of homelessness.

“After this, in a couple of weeks, you don’t remember the statistics I tell you, you remember the stories and people you meet,” said O’Neill.

However, O’Neill did share some startling statistics: 3.5 million people experienced homelessness in the United States in 2008, 1.5 million of which were children.

The panel featured three men and one woman, all of whom were formerly or currently homeless. One by one, David Harris, Tim Hutchinson, Tonda Osteen and John Harris shared the stories of their paths into and out of homelessness.

“Homeless people were familiar to me, but though I saw them, I didn’t really see them as people,” said David Harris, a resident of Washington, D.C. “I didn’t associate with the homeless; I didn’t make any effort to find out what they were like as human beings. I believed they were different from the people I knew and therefore it was okay to (treat them like that). I believed that right up until I became one of them.”

Harris became homeless after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure and suffering a stroke, which prevented him from working. His health problems were a result of high blood pressure, which went undiagnosed because Harris did not have health insurance and could not afford to go to the doctor.

In addition to high blood pressure, Harris also suffered from depression, which worsened with his health.

“My parents probably would have let me stay with them indefinitely and they definitely would not have wanted me on the streets, but my depression did,” said Harris. “It told me I was worthless and did not deserve to be in a nice warm house.”

Harris then lived on the streets.

“I was the guy lugging all my life, all my belongings, in plastic bags,” said Harris. “I was a lot of stereotypes and the homeless people I knew became people to me because on an average day, the only people who interacted with me were soup kitchen volunteers and other homeless people.”

That theme – the shunning of the homeless by people who have not experienced it – ran through many of the stories.

“Those things (being cold and hungry) didn’t bother me the way people’s treatment did, the way a mother would pull her child protectively toward her as I walked down the street,” said John Harris, also from Washington, D.C. “I found out what it was like to be treated like a second-class citizen in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.”

Eventually, both John and David got involved with Street Sense, a homeless newspaper, which had positive effects on both men’s lives.

“It salvaged some of my self esteem,” said John, who sold the paper on the street.

Street Sense published David’s poetry, and as a result of that exposure, he will be publishing his first collection this year.

Those who attended the panel found it both educational and moving.

“I thought it was very informative and eye-opening and it really did give me a new perspective on what a homeless person looks like and is,” said sophomore Christie Atlee. “It kind of gave me a better idea of what the path to homelessness is like and how quick you can go down it.”

Others were more motivated towards action, even in small ways.

“(It’s) the little things you can do,” said junior Ben Storey. “(There’s) something that one of the speakers said, that even if you can’t give change on the corner or do anything to change it, just acknowledging them as a person and saying hi (makes a difference).