(Editor's note: This is the final article in a three-part series on homelessness in the Upper Valley.)
After last Thursday's "Faces of Homelessness" panel discussion, it is impossible to deny that being homeless is a frightening problem that afflicts thousands of people in the Upper Valley.
The presentation was a wake-up call that left many Dartmouth students wondering "What can I do to help?" Several groups on campus that work to fight homelessness both directly and indirectly are now anxious to provide the answer to that question.
Habitat for Humanity, co-chaired by Jenny Rottmann '02, built a house last year for a previously homeless woman and her family. The positive impact of Habitat's work was made real for the audience when they heard the woman tell her story at Thursday's discussion.
According to Rottmann, "[Habitat] doesn't address the problem at its roots ... but it's a place to start and it's a way to work on the affordable housing crisis." Housing costs were cited at the discussion as one of the most major factors affecting homelessness.
With more than 100 active volunteers and a total of 500 people on their e-mail list, Habitat was able to build two homes in the Upper Valley this year, not just one.
Operation Insulation is another Dartmouth community service organization that insulates and weatherizes peoples' homes in order to make staying warm during the winter less costly.
After working with this program during their careers' here, two Dartmouth graduates, Danra Kazenski '99 and Nancy Bloomfield '99, were inspired to start their own organization named the Core Of Volunteers Effecting Repair (COVER).
COVER is a community service organization independent of the Tucker Foundation, and, like Operation Insulation, works to weatherize low-income housing.
Another campus group, Students Fighting Hunger, has more direct contact with currently homeless people through community dinners that they serve monthly in conjunction with the Listen Center.
According to Rottmann, students who have only a few hours per week to do community service and are concerned about homelessness should consider volunteering at the Haven, a homeless shelter for families in West Lebanon.
The Listen Center and The Haven are two of the three main institutions in the Upper Valley that help people who are homeless or threatened by homelessness.
At the Listen Center, volunteers can help run the three different thrift shores, work in the food pantry or be on one of the teams that cooks six community dinners a week. These meals are open to anyone, no questions asked, and the food served ranges from Shepherd's Pie to roasted goose.
Walter Grevatt, Director of the Listen Center, said that the continual flow of food donations from the Dartmouth community are a great help. He noted that fraternities and sororities gave generously, as well as the Class of 2004, which recently organized what he described as a "huge" food drive.
For people with cars, the Listen Center has an "on-call" list of people willing to pick up bread and produce donated by local grocery stores. Last year the Listen Center served 4,515 people from its food pantry and a total of 11,593 meals.
The Haven, the homeless shelter in West Lebanon, attracts about 50 volunteers per week, including many College students. According to Tom Ketteridge, the Managing Director of the Haven, "there are many many different things people can do," including working in the food shelf program, doing special projects and organizing field trips.
The Haven, which is designed to house four families at a time, is always full and is forced "to turn away quite a number of people," according to Ketteridge. He said that 80% of the occupants are single mothers with several children, and that the average stay is only 36 days because "people don't like living in the shelter -- it's stressful."
"Each story is unique as to why people show up on our doorstep ... we give them a chance to catch their breath, then start doing what they need to do to get back on their feet," said Ketteridge.
Some services provided include educational, budgeting, and parenting skills training, as well as aid in finding low income and subsidized housing.
Ketteridge said that if you can write a check, you could instead volunteer at the shelter and provide much-needed help to the people living there.
The main goal of both volunteers and employees of the Haven is to "encourage people, show them that God is in everyone, make them believe in themselves," said Ketteridge.
He added, "People who suffer homelessness often have very low expectations for themselves, and when you show someone you care about them they start to value themselves."
Head Rest is a third institution that helps the homeless, particular those in need of alcohol and drug treatment.
According to their website, Head Rest "seeks to educate and empower individuals and families to improve the quality of their lives by providing 24-hour crisis counseling ... and emergency shelter and material assistance."
