Secrets of the City

From the Pioneer Press article:

When it was complete, the temporary home comfortably housed two and was complete with a tunnel entrance, a battery-operated camping light, a tarp as a roof, two sleeping bags and even pizza.

Sounds more like summer camp than homelessness.

What does running a 5k teach you about breast cancer or AIDS? If the gimmick of sleeping outside provokes discussion about the issue and a desire to fundraise – I think it’s fantastic.

derusha, the difference I see is that there are people with breast cancer or AIDS at those events. It would have helped to get some homeless people or homeless survivors out for those kids to learn from.

But yeah, most 5ks or even the MS 150s don’t teach you anything about the disease.

It would have helped to get some homeless people or homeless survivors out for those kids to learn from.

Yeah. Right. As if that would ever happen.

There’s a imaginary line drawn in suburbia across which reality does not show its ugly face.

Good idea, kc!, but I’d be curious to know if you could get a homeless person to come hang out with the kids on their little sleepout. Even to talk to them.

Also, sleeping outside is only a reality for a portion of the homeless population.

I chalk these things up to: their hearts are in the right place. I do a fundraiser for a homeless shelter that raises huge money and we dress in suits and have it at a hotel. We share stories, at connect it to the problem, but there’s always a bit of a disconnect from reality in fundraisers.

I suppose I blame the reporting on these high school things more than anything. Sleeping out one night does not teach anyone anything about being homeless. It’s just a fundraiser.

And noodleman, that’s a fairly ridiculous statement. I know plenty of urban neighborhoods that are far more fantasy world than my suburban one.

It is a stunt. It is to get noticed. To raise awareness. To raise funds. It is nothing more. Oh wait. Am I in my fantasy world again? It is so hard to tell.

The MS150s (ND and MN) I’ve done send out lots of informational material about MS to participants. Both about the disease itself, and patients (”putting a face” on MS).

There may not be an “experience MS” but there is definitely and educational aspect.

According to the article, the kids get it: Sam Wisneski, 17, suggested the idea after a similar event sleeping outside last October with her church youth group. “It’s really not about us sleeping outside for the experience,” said Wisneski, a 12th-grader. “It’s decreasing the problem of homelessness in the Twin Cities.”

And noodleman, that’s a fairly ridiculous statement. I know plenty of urban neighborhoods that are far more fantasy world than my suburban one.

So, Jason, just how many homeless people are there on the streets of Maple Grove? Is it as visible a problem there as it is, say, in Minneapolis or St. Paul? Kids going to school in the cities every day see the problem with their own eyes. I doubt that that’s the case in EP, Edina, Woodbury, etc.

It’s good that students are interested and motivated enough to participate. I think an activity like this does increase their awareness of the problem. But I’m not under any illusion that a suburban school administrator would ever get permission that would allow real homeless people to also participate with the students.

nood, kc offered a survivor of homelessness as an alternative. I could see many administrators allowing a formerly homeless person interacting with students to discuss their experience.

Do we REALLY have to have this sad little city vs suburb spat again? Live where you want to — you are not always defined by your address.

I’m sure the Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin County can talk about the growing nimber of homeless and/or hungry people in Maple Grove. That suburb has not been spared from home foreclosures, high unemployment, drug houses, etc. A nice enough community, but Mayberry, it aint.

Kids going to school in the cities every day see the problem with their own eyes

Kids going to some schools in the cities see the problem daily. Some public schools. I would say the homeless problem in Maple Grove is as visible as it is in Highland Park. And parts of South Minneapolis. A city address doesn’t mean you don’t live in fantasy land.

Anyway, There’s quite a difference between saying that homelessness is not a visible problem in the suburbs and this:

There’s a imaginary line drawn in suburbia across which reality does not show its ugly face.

nood, kc offered a survivor of homelessness as an alternative. I could see many administrators allowing a formerly homeless person interacting with students to discuss their experience.

Very true.

It would also be ironic if the formerly homeless person then had to spend the night with the students in their cardboard boxes.

Do we REALLY have to have this sad little city vs suburb spat again?

I don’t mean for this to become an urban v. suburban spat. Lord knows there are plenty of homeless (and runaway) teens who come from suburban homes.

Will the next post deride Salvation Army bell ringers because they’ve never actually been to the North Pole?

To pull a Lou Gelfland:

Bouquets to the high school kids with a vision for making a difference, who dedicate energy and funds to trying to improve other people’s lives.

Brickbats to the armchair cynics crying out “not enough” from the sidelines.

SA bell ringers started working least a week and a half ago.

At the closest grocery store to me, they’re stationed at both the entrance AND the exit.

I always try to drop a buck in the SA kettle. No, not SuperAmerica…

Wow, I really should have been paying attention to this.

Maple Grove and all of the metro does have a homeless problem. Just because it is outwardly apparent, it does exist. Homelessness isn’t just sleeping on the street. It is not having a permanent place to stay. That means sleeping on a friends couch or in a parents basement. This is very prevalant in the Osseo School District where Maple Grove is. I know, from growing up in the area, that there are also youth group homes. Homes basically for foster kids no one will take.

And don’t get me started on the SA and their homophobic policies. I give them no money ever.

*beacause it ISN”T outwardly apparent…

“I always try to drop a buck in the SA kettle. ”

I prefer to save my donations for groups that don’t discriminate.

In the case of SA, I’m willing to overlook their discrimination against gays (and others) in light of the overall good deeds they perform. But that’s just me. Feel free to donate to the organization that best matches your values…

Feel free to donate to the organization that best matches your values …

Me?