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Students get reality
check on plight of homeless
By Bob Robinson
Greenville Kiwanis Advisor
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“My personal thrill was
the wide-open discussion concerning
homelessness… it’s discussions like these that give us old people hope
for the future…”
GREENVILLE – Key Club Hobos got a few lessons on what it’s like to be
homeless Saturday night… one of them unanticipated.
Just like those they were holding their “awareness” event for - the
homeless of our society - Division 3 Key Club Hobos got shoved around a
few times before they finally found a place to “camp” for the night.
They were going to set up camp in front of Greenville High School… the
weather wasn’t cooperating.
They were going to their backup location in the GHS gymnasium… an
unanticipated event took precedence. They had to move.
They were going to their second backup location… it seems that space
was taken also. So now what?
Showing the resourcefulness of the Homeless, they found a place where
they could set up their “Tribes”… the hallways at the west end of the
high school.
Nearly 40 students from four high schools in Key Club International’s
Division 3 Ohio District – Piqua, Troy, Tri-Village and Greenville –
held a Box City event to raise awareness on the plight of the homeless.
It was an all-night event… once they found a place where they could
“camp” without being chased away, they set up their cardboard Hobo
Towns and prepared for the rest of the evening.
There were five tribes – four girls and one for the boys… Gryffindor,
Hobettes, Harriette T Woman & the Hobo Herd, TP Town and
Hobopolites. Towns were creative and distinctive to each tribe.
The Hobopolites built a taxi, established a monarchy (“Well, he’s king
for now, but it will change… we’re a democracy.”) and charged a fee for
passing through their town.
The students had fun… much of the evening included games and a movie:
“The Pursuit of Happiness.”
It was also serious. They discussed their reason for being there.
“I told you it would be fun, but it’s also important to understand why
we’re doing this,” said GHS junior and KCI Div. 3 Lt. Gov. Mariah
Reitz. She read a list of statistics regarding the homeless to the
group in the high school’s theatre arts room.
“What makes a person choose to live in a place not fit for human
habitation?”
Drugs, mental illness, lack of affordable housing, unemployment… more
than a quarter of the homeless are under 18.
“That’s your age. Can you imagine living a life like this?”
Half of homeless women have been abused… women with children are the
largest growing segment of the homeless, currently at 37 percent.
“Many homeless are prone to suicide…”
Nearly every student in the room had his or her story to tell, or
thoughts to express.
“Homeless? I always felt it’s not my problem.”
“I feel bad for the homeless, but I don’t know what I can do about it…”
“You have to be willing to help each other.”
It was a sobering discussion, eliciting strong emotions in many of the
students. Mark Reedy, Piqua Key Club and KCI Div. 3 Advisor, commented…
“My personal thrill was the wide-open discussion concerning
homelessness, that touched on political motivations, and International
government policy!” he said. “It's discussions like these that give us
old people hope for the future, thanks to these youth leaders.”
The event was planned not only to increase awareness of the plight of
the homeless but also to provide financial support, food and clothing.
Participating students were able to purchase items like boxes and tape
with donations of non-perishable foods and financial sponsorships from
local businesses.
“We gave carloads full to food and clothing banks, and helped the GHS
Special Education student group!!” Reedy added.
While Key Club officers from several local clubs were involved in the
planning, the event was spearheaded by Reitz and GHS senior and Key
Club President Kent Holmes. Club advisors and parents chaperoned the
event.
“Mariah did a fantastic job not only as a leader, which is what we hope
for, but actually (just) as a facilitator as well… which is better
yet!” Reedy said. “Others broke out as leaders... What an awesome 16
hours. Final touch of asking ‘How can we improve this for next year?’
PERFECT!”
Greenville High School Faculty Advisor Chris Mortensen was equally
impressed.
“Students were great all evening long,” he said. “They handled the
needed changes and adapted to all barriers for the evening and hardly
blinked an eye before setting the new plan. They did as good a plan for
this as I have seen from many adults, and in some cases even better. If
they decide to do this again in the future, I am sure they learned well
from this event and will make it ten times better on the next run.”
Key Club International is the largest student-led community service
organization in the world, with more than 200,000 members. Local clubs
are sponsored by local Kiwanis organizations.
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