Students,Tylerites spend time to recognize homeless

It was a very cold night.

A thick blanket of stars laid overhead. The sky’s muted brightness silhouetted the leafy trees sheltering Tyler’s Bergfeld Park.

The sound of silence was broken only by vehicles on a nearby street and the laughter of volunteers setting up makeshift stage lights. Once successful, the amphitheater became a beacon of light in the dark woods.

The sound of dry leaves crunching in the dark gets everyone’s attention.

Sporadic clusters of people begin to arrive, making their way in from the darkness like moths drawn to light. They land in the front rows of the outdoor amphitheater, sitting close to conserve heat. Their breath creates small transient clouds.

It is the perfect night for hot cocoa and a romantic walk under the stars.

But instead the nearly 200 people, including some University students huddled on plastic seats in the outdoor amphitheater have decided to experience just the opposite.

They have chosen to be homeless for the night, willing participants in ‘One Night Without A Home,’ an event sponsored by the Smith County Coalition for the Homeless.

The event was in recognition of National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week.

This is the first time the event has been held in Tyler and possibly the only time it has been held in Texas, according to Christine Fulsom, coalition president and executive director of People Attempting to Help.

“We’re hoping that what we do is going to increase awareness in our community and the challenges that it brings,” she said.

The 2008 Tyler/Smith County Homeless Survey identified 244 people homeless people on the night the survey was conducted. Of that number, 229 were in shelters and 15 were on the streets. Thirty-four were children.

“It’s not just the single, adult male out there; it’s families,” said Eric Samuels, state manager with the Texas Homeless Network.

Participants ate dinner at the Salvation Army shelter at 633 N. Broadway Street before walking a little more than a mile to Bergfeld Park, where the evening’s events were held. To make the event more accurate, participants were asked to leave electronic devices, jewelry and watches at home.

Organizers originally planned for participants to spend the night at Bergfeld Park, but with temperatures dropping, a backup plan was put into place.

After events concluded in the park, many of the attendees walked back to the Salvation Army shelter to spend the night on cots in an overflow room.

Without adequate shelter, the cold air and darkness are a threat to survival. Prolonged exposure to temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit can lead to hypothermia.

A panel of people spoke at the event, including Fulsom, Mayor Barbara Bass, Sonya Henson, director of Hope Haven for Women, and Tony Chung, director of East Texas Rescue Mission of Tyler. Kari Howell and Roy McDonald shared their personal experiences of homelessness with the crowd. Both said they found help through the Salvation Army.

McDonald, a preacher, told the crowd how homelessness can strike anyone.

“You can be the preacher, you can be a deacon, and you can be a lawyer or a doctor. Don’t think just because you see people walking the street that they are alcoholics and drug addicts and nobodies, because I am here to tell you, that’s not true. I’m a living witness to that,” he said.

Aisha Cooper, a sociology major, attended the event with some fellow Black Student Association members.

“My father was homeless for a few years, so I know what it’s like personally to be close to somebody that deals with homelessness. That was real hard for me growing up,” she said.

Unable to spend the night due to school commitments, the few hours Cooper spent in the park made a difference.

“Just coming out to things like this, and knowing that you have a home to go home to, everyone doesn’t have that. Everyone should just try to be more appreciative of what they do have because it could very well be you tomorrow or a year from now,” she said.

Cooper said he plans on volunteering with People Attempting to Help and encourages fellow students to do the same.

“I just want other people to get an idea of what it is like and to hear the statistics and to know it’s like they said, everyone out here (on the streets) isn’t addicted to drug and alcohol. They were once lawyers, preachers and doctors and lawyers. They were once college students just like us,” she said. The heavily bundled participants walked back to the shelter a little slower than they arrived.

The temperature dropped nearly 15 degrees while they were huddled in the park.

Now with everyone deeper in thought, it was quiet but for the passing cars.

By Melissa Greene Associate Editor