Spring Break
The Daily OrangeLove shack
Habitat for Humanity's Shack-a-Thon spreads awareness for homelessness
By Ben Tepfer
Posted: 10/6/08, 12:24 AM EST Section: Feature
|
"Even though it's raining, it really encourages us to be here," said Manon, a senior psychology and child and family studies major. "We know how affected people get when they don't have adequate housing, and it is important students witness what goes on just beyond campus."
The three-day, two-night Shack-A-Thon concluded Friday afternoon, with clear skies. The joint event, held by the Syracuse University/State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry chapter of Habitat for Humanity, aimed to give a physical example of what low-income housing looks like by lining the Quad with 12 wooden shacks. Students spent all day and night in the shacks distributing fliers about homelessness in Syracuse.
Darren Goldberg, a television, radio and film major and vice president of University Union, said the event presented a side of Syracuse life students don't see in the classroom.
"As a large student organization on campus we definitely feel it's necessary to show it to the students of our organization and other student organizations that there is more to the university than programming," Goldberg said.
The event ended in a press conference and advocacy rally. Suzanne Williams, executive director of Syracuse Habitat for Humanity, was one of the speakers at the press conference.
"It gives people an idea what people in this country go through," she said. "These shacks are not much different from homes you will find around the country. In fact, many of these are better put together than the things people live in. So it's important for people to get an idea of what substandard housing really looks like."
For the advocacy rally, students worked together to make large banners listing facts about homelessness. Mary Marolla, a senior public relations major, and Kristen Putch, a senior newspaper journalism major, shared a new idea for the banners in hopes of adding a more personal side to the statistics.
"We came up with the idea for having people trace their hands on this banner on the spot," Marolla said.
Putch added that, "The hands represent a sort of coming together. They are a symbol of everyone coming together to end poverty in America. If people don't get off the Hill, they don't see how many people are living below the poverty line. We want to show the press that all of the Syracuse University campus is united for this cause."
Be the first to comment on this story