Approximately 20 OU students gathered on the South Oval Friday evening to camp-out and raise awareness about the local homeless population.
Phi Beta Sigma hosted its eighth annual “Sleep Out for the Homeless” from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“It’s to raise awareness about the plight in Norman,” Vince Winston, public affairs and African American studies senior said.
In the Oklahoma City metro area, approximately 2,000 people are homeless each night, said Tiffany Webb, City Rescue Mission public relations manager.
The group also collected canned food in local neighborhoods to donate to East Main Place, a Norman homeless shelter.
Homeless people aren’t the stereotype, said Winston, UOSA vice president. They are people just like college students, faculty or staff, he said.
There are quite a few college-aged homeless people, Webb said. Some have been in the foster care system and were kicked out when they turned 18, she said. Some of them have nowhere to go, Webb said.
“Many people don’t understand what homelessness looks like,” she said.
There also is a fair amount of homeless children, Webb said. City Rescue Mission currently houses 35 children, she said.
“That’s pretty shocking to people,” Webb said.
Damion Thornton, University College freshman, said he wasn’t sure what to expect about being homeless for a night. Thornton said he tried to sleep on a bench, but it was too painful to really sleep.
Thornton said the experience helped him better understand something about his own family. He said his mother was once homeless during his childhood.
“I better understand what she was going through at that time,” he said.
Thornton said the Friday night experience gave him a drive to accomplish his goals. He said he wants to do what it takes to make sure he never has to live in that situation.
The South Oval experience was about 1 percent of what a homeless person actually goes through and still made an impact, said David Garcia, visual communication junior.
Webb said the best way for people to help the homeless situation is to get involved.
Even touring a homeless shelter can help raise awareness, she said.
“If you get involved and get to meet these people, it changes your perspective on what homelessness looks like,” Webb said.
Bobby Olupona, petroleum engineering junior, said it’s hard to understand homelessness without being on the street.
“You really don’t know it until you do it,” he said.
Marquetta Frye, an OU alumna, said she doesn’t think students think about the homeless enough. Frye graduated last year but still attends the event because her sorority did it when she was at OU.
Webb said the sleep out event is helpful to raise awareness for the homeless. Students are sometimes so focused on their studies, and an event like this can help open their eyes to the homeless cause, she said.
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tommyscheurich 3 years, 3 months ago
It's hard to care about problems. It is so emotionally taxing that in a sense, to care about people who are suffering or downtrodden right here in our own community is dangerous to your own mental health. I think that's the basic logic of the liberal approach to economic human services: to be a volunteer is too draining, so you might as well employ people with bigger government which then in turn serves more underpriveleged people.