By Britt Staniar

W&L students took a "midnight run" to Washington, D.C. recently, to help make the winter night a little more bearable for the city's homeless.  With the help of 14 students, W&L junior Sonia Siu distributed over 120 sandwiches, 4 cauldrons of soup, 100 jackets, and various other articles of clothing to the needy on the streets of Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3.

The trip was the culmination of Siu’s efforts to change homelessness in America. That quest began with her efforts to educate W&L students about homelessness in a panel discussion last month.

“Funny thing happens when you become homeless - you become invisible,” said John Harrison in front of an audience of over 80 people at the W&L Commons Theater. “That is, unless you want to use the bathroom in the Hilton.”

Harrison’s presentation described his experiences living on the streets and dealing with homelessness. He told stories about being assaulted, robbed and humiliated: essentially being treated as a second class citizen. He said that by sharing his stories he hoped that others would get a better understanding of why people are homeless and as a result, start treating the homeless better.

Harrison’s talk, part of a larger presentation made by the National Coalition for the Homeless, was organized and facilitated by Siu. Siu became involved with the NCH, an advocacy group trying to educate Americans about people living on the streets, at a similar presentation several months earlier.

Since then, Siu has been on a mission to not only educate the W&L community about homelessness, but to improve the plight of the homeless as well.   Siu said that she was overwhelmed by the generosity of the people, businesses and organizations that contributed to her drive.

“More people have expressed interest, given their time, or donated supplies than I ever could have imagined,” said Siu, who had so many supplies that she ended up donating the extras to a shelter for later distribution.

Student reactions to the NCH’s presentation were overwhelmingly positive. Senior Afsin Yurdakul said she would definitely like to see another presentation.

“My parents gave me the wrong perception about homelessness,” said Yurdakul, who said that hearing real stories made the difference in her understanding of the issue.

Siu’s efforts to raise awareness about homelessness come at a time when public awareness of the mistreatment of the homeless is in the media spotlight. In Fort Lauderdale, on Jan. 17, three homeless men were assaulted by men with baseball bats. One of those three men was killed.

The beatings were captured by video surveillance cameras and replayed on news stations nationwide. Three suspects were arrested in conjunction with the attacks, one of whom has been charged with murder.

It’s an occurrence that happens all to often, according to Mike O’Neil, a representative from NCH. O’Neil, who made the case for homelessness deserving more public attention and understanding, said that more than three million people are homeless in America. He cited the fact that there are four to six times as many animal shelters as homeless shelters in America. O’Neil encouraged the audience to get involved in the community and to talk to and treat homeless people with the respect any neighbor deserves.

“If you talk to one person on the street,” said O’Neil, “you could change their life by giving them hope for the future.”

It was a message that was echoed by Francine Triplett, another NCH speaker who wandered the streets for three and a half years before mounting a recovery.

“All I wanted out there was conversation,” said Triplett.

And that is something that Siu, who hopes to lead more trips to Washington, DC, in the future, is looking forward to.

“In the end, it’s a really good beginning,” said Siu.

Photo slideshow of the homelessness panel and trip to DC

~photos courtesy of Sonia Siu

and Britt Staniar

Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.

Lead supervisor:      Prof. Claudette Artwick

Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming

Editing supervisor:  Prof. Pamela Luecke

Technical supervisor:  Michael Todd