National Honor Society students raise awareness about homeless

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Being smart is just not enough, says Bemidji High School's National Honor Society adviser, Gina Faver.

That is why she and two other teachers took 22 Honor Society seniors on an overnight survival demonstration Friday at Lake Bemidji State Park to raise awareness of homelessness -- a problem that not only affects the United States, but also their hometown ... Bemidji.

The outing by the NHS students was part of the community service Faver said she expects the students to perform for being part of the National Honor Society.

The students had raised about $600 in pledges for the overnighter by Friday, and will be trying to raise more throughout this week. Faver said the group would be accepting pledges until Friday.

The pledges, most of which have come from local businesses, will be donated to three area emergency services -- the House of Hospitality, the Evergreen House and the Battered Women's Shelter. The House of Hospitality provides shelter for homeless adults and families; the Evergreen House shelters youth 17 and under; and the Battered Women's Shelter is a safe haven for domestic abuse victims.

"We're trying to make a demonstration that is very difficult and inconvenient to be homeless," Faver said. "We're all campers in the summer when it's sunny, but (living homeless) is a little different. Even in a quaint, little town like Bemidji, we still have many who are homeless."

According to information gathered from the House of Hospitality by NHS student Leah Rodgers, the shelter served a total of 536 people in 1996. Of that number, 148 were children, 116 women, 272 men and 60 were families. A total of 2,961 shelter-nights were stayed, and 6,312 meals were served.

"These facts prove homelessness is not just some big-city problem," her report states, "but one we, too, must face."

Rodgers adds there are many causes that may lead to homelessness, including a lack of income, a lack of housing, mental illness, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, family turmoil and a physical disability.

And according to information from the American Homeless Society gathered by Rodgers, most myths about homeless people are not true.

She states that less than 6 percent of the homeless are that way by choice; most victims are not to blame for their homelessness -- some have suffered from child abuse or violence, many have lost their jobs and nearly a fourth are children; many homeless people do work but cannot afford to feed their family and pay for housing; and only a fourth are heavy drug users.

Rodgers said everybody can help the homeless, but first they must understand who the homeless are. Secondly, people who want to help must educate themselves about homelessness.