Fall 2008 Hunger and Homelessness A project of: The PIRG Student Action Network Organizer Tool Kit

Transcription

1 Fall 2008 Hunger and Homelessness A project of: The PIRG Student Action Network Organizer Tool Kit

2 ISSUE OVERVIEW Hunger and homelessness are reaching crisis levels throughout the world and the problems are getting worse. In 2000, just over 30 million people lived in households experiencing hunger; today, that number has reached 38 million, including 13 million children. In 2004, 3.5 million people were homeless. This included working parents, small children, senior citizens, and single adults people from all walks of life. In fact, more than 37 million Americans live below the poverty level that s 12.7% of the population. Hunger and homelessness are problems that exist in every state, every county, and every community in the United States. Homeless shelters have reported a steady increase in requests for emergency shelter as the number of people experiencing homelessness has risen in communities nationwide. Actually, a report released by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness in 2005 entitled Communities in Crisis: A Survey of Hunger and Homelessness in America, based on new data collected from 900 emergency food and shelter providers, found that 74% of agencies surveyed reported an increase in requests for food assistance and 65% reported an increase in shelter requests over the past year. Additionally, 77% of agencies reported turning away requests for emergency shelter this past year, and 87% of agencies reported that there are not enough shelter beds in their community. Why is this happening? Cost of living increases are outpacing wage increases: In the last decade, and the last year in particular, the cost of housing, utilities, childcare, healthcare, and transportation has jumped significantly. Yet, few employees have seen a similar jump in their wages. Plus, more and more people work minimum wage jobs. The combination of these factors forces many Americans to choose between purchasing food, paying rent, or going to the doctor. Fighting hunger, homelessness, and poverty is not a concern of the federal government: The current administration is no friend to the poor. In the past eight years, Congress and the White House have repeatedly proposed cuts to programs that help low-income families while championing billions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. When economic experts pointed out that adding money to emergency food programs would help stimulate the economy, elected representatives on both sides of the aisle ignored this advice and passed a stimulus package experts determined to be less effective. Unfortunately, Americans have grown to accept hunger and homelessness as the status quo. But it doesn t have to be that way. What can we do about it? We live in the richest, most powerful country in the world. We can make sure that all people in America have access to food and shelter. And, we can achieve this goal if we all work together to tackle the root causes of hunger, homelessness, and poverty. By establishing more affordable housing, expanding successful feeding programs, re-evaluating our agricultural and trade practices, increasing wages, and expanding poverty prevention programs, we can make significant strides towards a poverty-free America.

3 However, if we do not begin to implement systemic changes now, the number of people experiencing hunger and homelessness will only continue to skyrocket. Therefore, the National Student Campaign will focus on raising awareness and cultivating a public demand for change by showing students that the solutions to these problems exist and will only happen if we demand that our leaders recognize and address the problem. GOAL OF THE CAMPAIGN: End hunger and homelessness in the United States STRATEGIES AND TACTICS In order to start building public awareness and political pressure, we need to organize as many education and service events as possible, making sure we re introducing the idea of policy change at the same time. Here s a list of ideas to choose from for your campaign. Check for tips on how to organize each of the following: Research the local problem: The enormity of the problems of hunger and homelessness in America are virtually unknown to the general population, including our decision-makers. Also, students often don t fully understand the nuances of the problem in their local communities. As a result, student campaigns often fail to truly address the nuances of the problem in their community. Research Statistics: This will give you a better understanding of the challenges individuals are experiencing in your state and region. Complete a Community Needs Assessment: Develop a list of anti-hunger and homelessness agencies (food banks, food pantries, community kitchens, and homeless shelters) in your community. Contact at least five local agencies regarding the extent of hunger and homelessness in your community. You should ask them for anecdotes, stats, and other information that clearly describes the problem. See Appendix I for details on how to run the assessment. Public education: Raising awareness is one of the best ways to create the political will to end hunger and homelessness. Many decision-makers and community members do not know the scope of hunger and homelessness in their communities or what is needed to effectively alleviate these problems. Through the Campaign, students educate their peers and the public while building support for systemic solutions. Host Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, November 16-22: National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, co-sponsored by the National Coalition for the Homeless, is a series of events the week before Thanksgiving designed to educate the student population, increase community service, and build coalitions through panels, guest speakers, forums, and campus-wide service events. With more than 500 schools participating each year, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week has become the most widely organized hunger and homelessness event on campuses nationwide. Food Stamp Challenge: This challenge raises awareness about the food stamp program by demonstrating how hard it is to buy nutritional food on the small amount of money provided by the program. Organize students and community VIPs to commit to living on a food stamp budget of $21 for the entire week. Participants will document their experience and publicize it to the campus and local community.

4 Other educational programs include postering campaigns, Oxfam Hunger Banquets, letter to the editor and opinion editorials, sleep-outs, movie screenings, and NSCAHH site visits. Community Service: Community service programs serve two purposes. First, community service is one of the best ways to engage students. Second, creating strong federal programs and massive public awareness will not happen overnight. Until the necessary programs are implemented, millions of Americans will experience hunger and homelessness on a daily basis. Due to increasing costs and declining federal budgets, many agencies that help these individuals are barely able to keep the lights on let alone expand their services to meet growing levels of need. Students help these agencies by raising critical funds and providing volunteer power and resources that these agencies need. Food, clothing or hygiene drives: Contact local agencies to find out what is most needed. Then, build your drive and set your goals around that information. In the most successful drives volunteers go to the donors. For example, you could set up a food drive outside a grocery store and hand out fliers with a list of suggested donations to shoppers as they enter. For clothing drives, you could pass out fliers in the dorms as students are starting to pack up for the year, set up donation bins, and then pick them up a few days later. Weekly service projects: Through your local needs assessment you will have identified local agencies that need volunteers. Get on the phone with a couple of agencies to figure out when they need people and for what type of activities. Set up a group of regular volunteers. However often you go, once a week, once a month, or every day, be sure to confirm your volunteers, be on time, and call the agency if you are sending a different number of volunteers than originally discussed. Food salvage programs: Local meal programs and food banks are seeking innovative sources of food. The Campaign has worked with student leaders to establish food rescue programs, which salvage unused food from campus dining facilities and regularly provide it to local programs. Other community service programs include putting together Thanksgiving baskets, running Trick-or-Can or food scavenger hunts, and monthly dental and medical clinics for homeless persons. Fundraising: Fundraising is a vital part of every nonprofit organization. Funding for important programs has remained stagnant or even decreased despite the upswing in need. As a result, agencies are having to decrease their hours or months of operation, cut preventative programs, and turn away individuals in need because the agency does not have the resources available to meet all the requests. Students can organize a variety of fundraisers to help fund the local shelter or purchase food and supplies for victims of international and domestic humanitarian crises such as the genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan or the rebuilding effort in the Gulf Region. Hunger Clean Up, April 4 th : The Annual Hunger Cleanup is one of the largest community service fundraisers in the country. Students spend a day painting local shelters, planting community gardens, and repairing and cleaning food banks. To ensure that funds are available to address and find permanent solutions to hunger and homelessness, Hunger Cleanup volunteers ask their friends, family members, professors, and local businesses to sponsor their efforts. Over its twenty-four year history, the Hunger Cleanup has made a significant impact, involving 150,000 volunteers and raising more than $2 million for local, national, and international anti-hunger and homelessness relief efforts. Skip a meal: Students and campus dining services work together to allow students to donate points/money from their meal cards to benefit anti-hunger and homelessness efforts. This is a

5 great opportunity to work with the campus dining program and other student groups while educating the campus public about the issues of hunger and homelessness. Dorm-Storms/Spare Change Drives/Penny Wars: This event is incredibly easy to organize and can be quite effective in fundraising upwards of $1,000. There are a few ways to run this event: you can go door to door in the dorms, put jars in dozens of locations around campus, or devise a combination of the two. Collect empty jars or buckets, make labels, and start collecting! Other fundraising projects including running a benefit concert, hosting an auction or raffle, or organizing a dodgeball or basketball tournament. Influence Public Policy: History has taught us that strong federal programs can eradicate hunger and homelessness in America. Unfortunately, decision-makers have not prioritized ending hunger and homelessness in any substantive way since the 1970s. While students in our network will not immediately become today s leading policy experts, they will be able to do something that most organizations cannot generate significant grassroots support for important hunger and homelessness campaigns. The Campaign s Advocacy Project builds the grassroots support needed to work towards these concrete solutions specifically by working to increase funding for affordable housing programs and fighting any attacks on important feeding programs, like the federal Food Stamp program. Additional information about the public policy campaign will follow in the coming weeks. We are working with a variety of advocacy groups to develop the most appropriate and effective strategy for RESOURCES The Campaign staff consists of experts, organizers and advocates who are able to help you develop stronger, more effective programs on campus. At you can find manuals and fact sheets as well as information projects such as National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week, the Hunger Cleanup, and the Advocacy Project.

6 Appendix I: To: PIRG Campus Organizers Fr: National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness Re: Developing an Effective Hunger and Homelessness Campaign Knowing the local angle/problem is critical element in developing an effective campaign. Every year, the number of individuals experiencing hunger and homelessness continues to rise on the national level. The picture has been fairly bleak and many experts estimate that if we do not prioritize ending hunger and homelessness as a society, more than 7 million people will experience homelessness by Most students and organizers can tell a compelling national story on hunger and homelessness but do not know the local story or extent of the problem that they are working to address. This should be the driving force behind all the work that we do in our communities. By knowing the local problems and developing a compelling story, we will be able to increase our effectiveness. This will not only enable you to recruit more students for the campaign, but will allow your chapter to tailor you campaign to better suit the needs of your community. The following information offers a few suggestions and how to steps that will help you understand the local problems of hunger and homelessness. You should use this information to set your campaign plan and goals for the H&H project group this spring and beyond. Three Things to Do in Four Hours to Get a Handle on H&H in Your Community: 1. Research statewide statistics on hunger and homelessness. This will give you a better understanding what challenges individuals are experiencing in your state and region. See the state specific websites on the next page for a few suggestions. 2. Develop a list of anti-hunger and homelessness agencies (food banks, food pantries, community kitchens, and homeless shelters) in your community. If you don t have a list of local agencies already compiled, research agencies in the phone book, ask the community service center for a list of emergency service providers they work with, visit your county s United Way s website, and ask agencies for referrals. 3. Contact at least 5 local agencies regarding the extent of h&h in your community. You should ask them for anecdotes, stats, and other information that clearly describes the problem. Here are a few questions you can ask to help develop your story and understanding: * How many individuals did your agency assist last year? * Has the total number of requests for food or shelter (whatever need they address) from you agency increased, decreased, or stayed the same this past year? If it has increased, by what percentage? * What best categorizes the majority of your clients (single males, single women, families)? * In the past year, has your agency turned away people requesting food or shelter assistance? If yes, why? * What are the top three things or services your clients ask for when they come to you agency for help? * Are there enough shelter beds in your community to provide one for each person who needs shelter? * Is there enough food available at agencies in your community to provide food for everyone who needs it? * In the past year, has your agency reduced the size of or cut any of its programs? If so, what programs were cut? Why were these cuts made? * Is your agency s total income less, more, or the same this year as compared with the previous year? * What could the federal or state government do to help alleviate hunger and homelessness in your community? * What are three main factors that you think cause hunger and homelessness in your community? High housing costs Low incomes Cost of health care Cost of child care Mental Illness Unemployment/Job loss Domestic violence or abuse Physical Illness Substance abuse/addition Discrimination Poor Education Lack or loss of government benefits Other * If you were mayor, what are the top three things you would do in order to end hunger and homelessness in your community? * What are three things students can do in your community to help alleviate these problems?