Guidelines
The goal of this contest is to sensitize the participants to some of the issues associated with homelessness, dispel some preconceptions about homelessness, and to cultivate a bit of empathy for those in our communities experiencing homelessness. We believe that real empathy is gained through experience, and rooted in personal interactions and face-to-face conversations. Accordingly, we feel that a strong essay should consider the following three elements.
While these three elements should be considered as requirements for a strong essay, the bullet points are included only as food for thought to help you get started.
Investigate (Experiential Element / Examples)
Research (Current Issues / Examples)
Improvement (Solutions from Investigation and Research / Examples)
While these three elements should be considered as requirements for a strong essay, the bullet points are included only as food for thought to help you get started.
Investigate (Experiential Element / Examples)
- Speak with a minimum of three receptive homeless persons (at shelters or on the street) regarding their background, family members and what circumstances led to their homelessness. If interviewing on the street, the student would be required to take along an adult before dusk. In our experience, the people we've met with on the street have been harmless and more than willing to share their histories and current challenges. In fact, having someone care about their personal story and listen to their concerns was enormously comforting.
- Volunteer at a homeless shelter to serve food, spearhead a socks drive (or other established need) and interact with a minimum of three homeless people at that shelter. Determine (by asking questions) specific needs and strive to find a solution. Blankets, canned food donations, bedding, toiletries, school supplies, etc.?
Research (Current Issues / Examples)
- Read one of the books listed on the Resources page
- Research available data on local homeless demographics in your county (men, woman, children, median age, ex-military etc.)
- Research pressing issues for your homeless population (Is panhandling legal in your county? If so, is it limited to specific days of the week?) or other relevant issues.
- How many homeless in your county are a result of the housing crisis or other (alcoholism, drugs, mental illness, displacement, domestic abuse, unemployment etc.)
- Has the homeless population increased in your community in the last year? Decade? National increases in homelessness? If so, what are the economic and social implications?
- How many K-12 students experience homelessness in your community? What services are available to them?
- Do current relief systems tend help people escape homelessness or keep them trapped in it?
- Do anti-vagrancy and quality-of-life laws promote public safety or public comfort?
- Is being homeless considered a crime in your community?
Improvement (Solutions from Investigation and Research / Examples)
- How can you improve or positively impact the lives of your local homeless population based upon your experience and research for this project?
- Are there more homeless men than women? What is the median age? How can you help this specific demographic at your local shelter?
- If the issue is unemployment, how can you help with internet connectivity or resume building services? Can you assist with a business suit donation or other suitable clothing for a job interview? Haircut / hair styling donations?
- Consider printing up a sheet of local services that have agreed to offer free assistance (churches, local businesses, community outreach, counselors, social workers, grocery stores, hair salons, fast food chains, restaurants, stores). Distribute this list to various shelters and homeless persons while educating them about these resources. What was your role in getting these businesses / services on board to help out?
What we will be looking for
- Compelling stories that convey sensitivity.
- Analysis of the differences, if any, between what you read and what you observe first hand.
- Novel, innovative, and creative solutions, large or small, that might improve the life of someone experiencing homelessness