photo by Brie Cohen

Elisha Marin writes “Ignore No More!!” on the outside of his cardboard shelter Friday night at Morin Park as part of the Salvation Army hunger and homeless awareness event. Youth and mentors slept outside at the park in their cardboard homes over night.

A cardboard city

Youth, mentors sleep outside to raise homeless awareness

By Sarah Stultz | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Saturday, October 17, 2009

He stood on the corner of St. Mary Avenue and Main Street Friday night, dressed in a coat while he carried a sign.

For three hours that day, Glenville man Jeremy Walterman became homeless.

As he stood on the outskirts of what had been set up for a hunger and homelessness awareness event at Morin Park, Walterman said the experience helped him realize what some people think of homelessness in this area.

One woman gave him $10, telling him it could get him a hot meal; another man brought him a cheeseburger.

Yet, others changed lanes as they passed him because they didn’t want to look, he said.

“To me, it’s not going away,” Walterman said of homelessness.

The event, part of a nationwide awareness campaign sponsored by the Salvation Army called “Ignore No More,” invited area youth to make and then sleep in a cardboard box for a night in the heart of Albert Lea.

First Presbyterian Church, Salem Lutheran Church, The Rock and Grace Christian Church also helped organize the event, which comes at a time of high unemployment and a downturn of the nation.

Albert Lea Salvation Army Capt. Jim Brickson said across the country there are 1.6 million homeless people, which is a 14-year high.

In Freeborn County it is no different.

Constructing a cardboard city

At the start of the evening, about 30 area youth walked over to the Salvation Army building on Court Street to eat dinner. This food would be their only sustenance until the next morning, though most teenagers are used to eating other snacks, too.

Then, the youth walked back to Morin Park, where they were given instructions on how to build their cardboard box home. They were told to use pieces of cardboard and duct tape. They could come up with a design of their choice.

Leaders warned it would be wet, so the kids should make a thick base.

Then, for the next hour, the youth worked to erect their homes.

Some went with teepee designs, others with rectangular shapes.

Some made their boxes to have multiple rooms, while others made their boxes just big enough to cover one person.

When their houses were completed, some youth even drew on windows and landscaping, or built a chimney to add to the overall appeal.

The true test would be to see if the boxes could withstand the night.

“I hope they will have an experience they will remember for the rest of their life,” said Salvation Army Youth Director Lori Miles.

The teenagers would obviously be uncomfortable because of the cold temperatures and drizzling rain, she said. But through that uncomfortable feeling, they would get to see what it’s like for people who don’t have a home.

Miles said she’s lived in bigger cities where there’s more visible homeless people in the community.

“People here don’t think there are homeless people in Albert Lea, but it can happen to any of us,” she said. “It may not look like it does in the big cities, but it does happen.”

She noted she hoped the youth would learn about their duty to help the poor and to not judge them.

The cardboard city had to be a sight for people driving by, too.

What’s the case of hunger and homelessness in Freeborn County?

Vicky Helland, with outreach and emergency services staff at Semcac in Albert Lea, said from July 2008 through the end of June 2009, Semcac housed 40 people in its Freeborn County shelter.

In the Semcac shelter, which is made up of three apartments, families can stay for up to 90 days.

Since July, Helland said, she’s had to turn away 21 people.

In addition to the Semcac shelter, the local Salvation Army gave out 200 lodging vouchers during its last fiscal year to people needing a place to live, Brickson said.

“We have definitely seen an increase this year,” Helland said. “I think there’s some that’s because of substance abuse, but I think the influx we’re seeing now is the economy. There are a lot of people who have worked and kept jobs, who have lost their jobs because of the economic situation right now. They’ve used up all of their savings and just can’t get another job.”

There are also a lot of mental health issues involved with the people, she noted.

She’s also seeing a large increase of people who are on the verge of being homeless, who have evictions, for which Semcac can provide rental assistance, she said.

“I think there’s a lot of doubling up situations going on, where two families are living together,” Helland said. There’s more kids with kids moving back in with their parents.

“We may not always see the homelessness, but it’s there and it’s going on. It just depends on how you determine it.”

She said she’s seen single people, married people and even families who are homeless.

Someone who’s going to two, three or even four places a week to sleep at night and who simply hangs out at places during the day, is probably homeless, she said.

Recently there has also been a tent city, or homeless camp, established in Albert Lea.

Some of the people who live in this camp have come in for services, while others haven’t.

Helland recalled an instance of a young homeless woman from this summer who would walk the streets at night because she had a fear of falling asleep. During the day she would find someplace to go in and sleep.

Another couple was sleeping in the back of a pickup.

“There’s a huge need for more housing than what we have,” she said. “For individuals who are homeless or who are working with a low income.

“With winter coming on, where are they going to stay?”

She said she thinks more of the people will be showing up at the Salvation Army. In the winter, homeless people can also often be found in the library, in malls or any place where it is warm.

Despite the grim stories, Helland said there have been many success stories of people who lose their jobs for various reasons, have stayed in the shelter and moved on to buying their own house and working full time.

About one-third of the families she works with end up homeless again.

Statistics show that if you were homeless as a child, you have a higher chance of being homeless as an adult.

The story of a former homeless man

Steve Erickson, of Minneapolis, who came to speak to the youth at Morin Park on Friday, shared his story of homelessness and how he has risen above that time in his life.

He encouraged the youth to be agents of hope.

“The world likes to judge when you see people holding signs, but you really don’t know,” Erickson said. “You need to show mercy always.”

The 38-year-old man explained his background, saying he grew up in a normal family, but was always the type of person who wanted to fit in.

In junior high school he gained the reputation of being a drug user and eventually turned to drugs and alcohol to take away his pains.

From high school until he was in his 30s he went through a cycle of drug and alcohol addiction and homelessness, robbing people and even stealing from his own parents.

He said he knows what it’s like to sleep in a cardboard box because he’s had to do it before.

“You might think doing this tonight will be fun with your friends, but when you really have to sleep in a box when you’re far away from home and lonely, it’s the farthest thing from fun,” Erickson told the youth.

He said he wound up homeless in multiple cities, but eventually turned his life around after ending up at a Salvation Army in Minneapolis after he sold his shoes for a last hit of crack cocaine.

There, he had to attend a mandatory Christian living class and something stuck out to him.

Now, he has a business that hires people coming out of primary treatment facilities or people with felony charges on their records.

After Erickson’s presentation and a series of scriptures, the youth enjoyed a time of fellowship.

Miles said she hopes those in attendance learned from the event and that those driving by were taught by it, too.

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