Student volunteers spend winter break discovering reality, complexity of homelessness

The point that homelessness is a complex problem was made abundantly clear to Davin Chellman during semester break.

Chellman (senior-philosophy), with a small group of University students and staff, participated in an Urban Ministry Trip to Washington, D.C. from Jan. 3 to 9.

The trip, an annual event sponsored by United Campus Ministry, offered participants a look at the complicated issues of homelessness firsthand, said Chellman, who has made the trip in the past.

"Part of the reason for us going is to see that the easy answers are not correct answers," he said.

The participants -- all volunteers -- witnessed the magnitude of the problem by working in numerous soup kitchens throughout the city, said the Rev. Carl Synan, director and campus pastor for United Campus Ministry, who accompanied the group on the trip. In addition to their work within the soup kitchens, Synan said the group also ventured into neighborhoods and parks to distribute meals and also volunteered at a day care center.

Synan agreed the trip sheds light on the complexity of the homelessness problem. He said the group discovered numerous factors, not just financial want, cause homelessness. The group saw that drug addiction, mental health problems and the psychological trauma experienced by some Vietnam veterans contribute to putting people on the streets, he added.

However, the causes of homelessness extend even beyond mental illness and drug addiction, said Joe Fire (junior-mechanical engineering).

Fire, who made the Urban Ministry Trip for the first time this year, is no stranger to volunteer work; he has worked in Haiti. He said some of the poor conditions in the capital reminded him of the poverty he saw in Haiti.

"There are parts of our cities that really do live a Third World-type existence, even though we're not a Third World country," he said.

Fire added that a striking contrast exists between the federal grandeur and wealth of the capital and the extreme poverty in other parts of the district.

"You have a guy in a BMW drive past a man who's half-alive," he explained, adding that the trip definitely gave the group a deeper comprehension of the problem of homelessness.

"It gave us an understanding, and when we have an understanding we can make a true difference if we choose to," he said.

Hands-on volunteering and advocating changes in public policy are some ways a person can make a difference, Synan said.

However, answers to the complicated problem of homelessness will not be readily forthcoming, Chellman added.

"There are no easy solutions," he said. "It has to be dealt with at a number of different levels and in a number of different ways."