Hunger and homelessness are both silent epidemics which plague the city of Columbia and the nation. These issues come in the form of stereotypes, misconceptions and prejudices against those who are hungry, homeless or both, said local advocates for those populations.
“We brought the Gamecock Food Pantry onto campus in hopes that we could break the stigma of what hunger means to our students. When we first brought it, a lot of students didn’t understand why, if you are attending a higher (education) institution, then why would you need money? If you have money for school, why don’t you have money for food?” said Gamecock Pantry Director Claire Kimpton. “It goes back to situations and circumstances that one might face.”
For National Hunger and Homelessness week, Carolina Homelessness Outreach and No Kid Hungry partnered together to put on “#LeadforaNeed: Ending Hunger and Homelessness in Columbia” Tuesday night.
This event shed light on some of the stereotypes that are associated with these issues and how hunger and homelessness affects those in the community, as well as addressing ways in which students and members of the community may get involved and help those who are hungry or homeless.
This event featured several people who play an integral role in trying to help hunger and homelessness in Columbia. In this event students were able to hear more about what these people and organizations do. Additionally, there were round table discussions which covered how people are affected and attempted to find ways to solve the problem.
Contributors and speakers at the event included the volunteer director at Harvest Hope Food Bank, a guidance counselor from Bradley Elementary School, the director of the Gamecock Pantry, members from Homeless Helping Homeless, a clinical social worker and a case worker from St. Lawrence Place.
Many students do not understand the effects of hunger unless it is something they have personally struggled with, said Davontae Singleton, president of No Kid Hungry. According to Kimpton, about 6,000 USC students have felt the effects of hunger.
Homelessness can happen to anybody and happens in many different forms than one might think, said HHH member Charles Witherspoon. If there is any time where you aren’t in control of the bills or the rent, you can become homeless. If your roommate gets mad at you and kicks you out, you can become homeless. There are very many reasons why one might succumb to homelessness or hunger. Not everyone is homeless as a result of a bad decision, although that does happen, Witherspoon said. Sometimes these situations are a result of other outside sources such as the economy and employment. You may have a job today, he said, but you could lose it tomorrow.
Sometimes homelessness is the result of a situation like the death of a spouse or a divorce. Some people may need more time to recover from these events, and lose jobs as a result, said Gadson Bennett, a member of Homeless Helping Homeless.
Other Hunger and Homelessness events this week include the Winter Shelter donation drive and service projects at local food banks.