A group of St. Clair College students had a chilly, wet, bug-filled time of it overnight last week at Thames Campus.
The Child and Youth Worker program accelerated students spent the evening of April 10 through to the late morning of April 11 living outside like homeless people.
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An evening shower sent them scurrying with their makeshift cardboard homes to a spot under an overhang right beside the main entrance to the campus.
It was there they encountered the bugs – a mix of spiders and potato bugs.
Through the night, program co-ordinator Joy Kemble rigged it so her homeless students would have regular visits from folks playing the role of people who typically prey upon or hassle those who live on the streets.
Kemble said at one point a prostitute and her pimp stopped by to try to lure the group into a life of crime. Both were members of the college faculty.
One faculty member came along and took their sleeping bags too.
“Our blankets got stolen and our houses got crushed,” Kristen Wszol, one of the students said.
“They learned of the realities of how difficult it is to find a place for shelter and sleep,” Kemble said.
Using a bathroom was a challenge too. The school was open through the night, but security guards played their role, refusing access to the students if they saw them trying to come in.
“We had to sneak in to use the bathroom,” student Wszol said.
Not all overnight visitors qualified as intruders, however, Kemble said Chris Cartier of AIDS Support C-K stopped by to discuss the needle exchange. Staff from the Salvation Army came by and delivered some food, clothing and towels.
Also in the delivery was a stocking for each of the students – a typical Christmas gift for those in need. Inside a heavy wool sock were toiletries and the other sock, all very useful to a homeless person.
“They showed us that sometimes, socks can be used as gloves,” student Alisha Szabon said.
Kemble said there are solid support programs in Chatham-Kent, leading to few, if any, youth living on the street.
“The youth in Chatham-Kent will couch surf,” she said, as teens will stay on the couches of different friends.
Their night was filled with issues and information, and opened the students’ eyes to the plight of the homeless. But they also know it wasn’t a true view of what homeless people endure.
“We had it pretty lucky,” Hailey Szabon said. “I couldn’t imagine what homeless people go through every day.”
Her sister Alisha said the students had each other for support, while most homeless people are on their own.
Student Brian Marchand agreed.
“People who are homeless are afraid of asking for help because of the stigma of mental illness. They’re afraid to reach out,” he said.
Many people have serious misconceptions of people who live on the street, Hailey Szabon said.
“Most kids leave because of abuse and neglect. They run away for a reason,” she said. “They don’t run away because they are on drugs. They get on drugs to cope.”
Even though the students were portraying the homeless, they found it interesting how some people coming to the college treated them as such. As they camped out by one entrance, foot traffic picked up at the main entrance nearby. When they had to move close to that entrance due to the rain, the majority of people suddenly used the other doors.
But they said a lot of their fellow students were very supportive.
On top of the life experience, the night of homelessness for the students was also a fundraiser. They asked for donations to the Salvation Army.
As well, the Friday morning soup kitchen put on by another team of accelerated Child and Youth worker program students at the school also raised funds for the Salvation Army. And it fed a group of very hungry kids who had just spent the night battling bugs, the elements, and the societal stigma against the homeless.
