Homeless people can’t just be brushed aside

If you don’t feed them, they’ll go away ““ such
is the attitude many of us have when we encounter a homeless person
by the pay phones, water fountains or the entrances to
buildings.

Too often, as students, we get caught up in the hustle and
bustle of our lives ““ such as getting a good education, good
grades, meeting new people, or hanging out in Westwood Village
““ without pausing to reflect on the dehumanization of
homeless people around us.

In addition to attending lectures, it is imperative that we open
our eyes and our hearts to the lessons that life has to offer. How
many of us can attest to taking an initiative to reach out to these
homeless people to learn who they are and why they became
homeless?

Instead of denying that they resemble us in any way, we need to
see that in fact they are like us. We could someday face
circumstances that would force us to join their ranks.

If we pause and reflect at the world beyond UCLA, we will see
how the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and now the devastating
earthquake in South Asia have rendered millions and millions of
individuals homeless.

In order to assist the victims of these calamities, students
from different campuses (including UCLA) took part in relief
efforts. In order to collect money, they sold bands for tsunami
relief, organized fundraising dinners, held donation drives and
hosted educational programs to increase awareness. Students did
this because they see and understand homelessness.

But what about the inner-city streets that are overflowing with
people in exactly these conditions ““ people who do not know
when or where they will eat?

They live in neighborhoods hidden in the shadows of the
city’s grandest buildings and under the darkness of the most
affluent high-rises. This is where they have been living, and this
is where most of them will die.

Instead of giving a homeless person the cold shoulder the next
time we walk down Westwood Boulevard, perhaps if we understand how
they have been victimized, we can become less judgmental toward
them.

While a roof over one’s head may be the most visible
marker of ending homelessness, getting there is more about the
things that are not as visible: a healed mind and body, a freedom
from addiction, an escape from abuse and a sense of community.

The recent calamities and the ever-increasing problem of
homelessness in our own local community demands that we ““
students who are part of this community ““ step up, roll up
our sleeves and get more involved in the work of responding to
homelessness today.

We must tap into our motivation to change and be willing to
prioritize the work of better organizing our resources and systems
to prevent people from becoming homeless, and responding more
effectively when they do.

In order to encourage students to play an active role by being
part of the solution, different student organizations are taking
different measures. Tuesday the Muslim Students Association
presents its third-annual fast-a-thon, when one goes hungry for one
day so someone else won’t have to.

Businesses will donate one dollar per fasting participant to the
NISWA shelter for battered women and children. Project Association
of Muslims Assisting the Needy and the Homeless, another project
which caters to the needs of the homeless, calls students to join
the force so that a collective effort can be made to create
awareness about homelessness, serve people in need and defeat
homelessness.

The ultimate goal of this project is to not only open a homeless
shelter, but to provide these individuals with skills that will
benefit them in the long run in accordance with the philosophy of
teaching a man to fish in order to feed him for a lifetime. It
takes a community motivated to change and reform to overcome
homelessness.