Samantha Hirschman | Assistant News Co-Editor
If you were to be asked how old the average homeless person is, I bet that you would say mid-20s. You’ll be surprised to know that the average homeless person is 9 years old. Many of the homeless adults have families of multiple children. A husband with the primary income dies, leaving his wife in a desperate situation. A father loses his job at work, causing his family not have money for food. Homeaid.org says that “Homelessness is, in fact, caused by tragic life occurrences like the loss of loved ones, job loss, domestic violence, divorce, and family disputes.”
One experience where students learn about the homeless is through the Urban Plunge with BVU campus ministries. I have had the opportunity to go two consecutive years, in the fall of both 2013 and 2014. It is a life changing experience. Not only did we learn about homelessness, but we witnessed it first-hand. Throughout the trip, we went to different ministries to volunteer; we gave up our time to help the less fortunate.
“Before closing out the night our groups took time for reflection and shared what we encountered so far and how the plunge into these agencies affected us and inspired us to give of our time beyond just this weekend,” BVU Chaplain Ken Meissner said.
There is a lot of prejudice toward those who are living in shelter homes and safe houses or on the streets. It’s not like these people want to live there, and when they get a chance to go back, they can’t. During the Urban Plunge fall of 2013, we went to see a man living in the trees of Des Moines. He talked about how he could find a house if he wanted to, but he had been living in a make-shift cabin for so long that he wouldn’t know how to live anywhere else.
Society needs to stop turning the other shoulder to these people. They are humans as much as anyone else is. “Life happened,” many of the homeless said when we spoke with them. It is just so easy for life to throw something and have it get ahold of you.
“The intentional conversations were powerful and eye-opening for everyone,” Meissner said.
In the wise words of Dr. Seuss, “a person’s a person, no matter how small.”
Graphic by Justice Gage
