A woman stands on the corner with a “help me” sign, and a few miles away from Sinclair Community College, a man sleeps under a bridge.
For some of us, this is all we will ever know about homelessness because we expect to eat, shower and sleep in a bed.
In the state of Ohio, more than 12,000 people are homeless on a given night, according to stvincentdayton.org.
On Nov. 2, in the Library loggia, Sinclair Talks will present a discussion on homelessness and the efforts that are being made to eradicate and reduce homelessness in Montgomery County.
“We do have a lot of students in poverty who are struggling,” Kathy Rowell, professor of sociology said. “But I don’t think we have many students, faculty and staff who truly understand homelessness.”
Rowell started volunteering to help those in need at the age of 18. She has volunteered at various organizations such as St. Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army and the Other Place.
“I struggled with poverty as a child,” Rowell said. “So I just have a real concern about it, and as a sociologist I find it difficult to understand how the richest country in the world has such a large homeless problem.”
Many communities have had problems with the homeless living on the streets and sleeping on park benches. Many, including Dayton, have made steps to criminalize homelessness such as making it illegal to sleep on park benches, according to Rowell.
Rowell said people who are homeless could go to a gateway shelter, which she said is a lot safer than being on the street. The goal of the gateway shelter is for people that are homeless to get the help they need to move into a house or apartment of their own.
Housing First is a program that helps the homeless do just that.
Housing First focuses on helping the homeless find housing and then working on the various possible problems that have led to the person becoming homeless.
Rowell encourages students to volunteer their time at various organizations that are geared toward helping the homeless. These organizations include the Social Work Club and the Global Awareness in Action Club or the Service Learning office on campus, as well as St. Vincent de Paul’s men’s and women’s shelter and soup kitchens.
But Rowell said that homelessness can affect anyone.
“It used to be in our society that most of us were three to four checks away from being poor,” Rowell said. “Now many people in our community are only a few checks away from being homeless.”