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| A damp homeless night |
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| News | |||
| Written by Gene Morris | |||
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 08:00 | |||
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As a light mist of rain kept falling Saturday evening, it reminded Jay Preston, founder of My Father’s House shelter for the homeless, of a night he will never forget. “The last night I spent on the streets was a wet, cold one like tonight,” Preston said to Developmental Leadership students from Paola High School before the sixth annual Camp Out for Cash at Panther Stadium. “With a damp cold like that,” Preston said, “you just couldn’t get warm.”  Fourty-three Paola students from Developmental Leadership were joined by 11 student council members from Osawatomie High School for an evening in the elements to draw awareness to the homeless, not just across the country or in Kansas, but right here in Miami County. Paola High School Developmental Leadership sponsors Cristie Sims and Justin Elliott assisted with the Camp Out for Cash. This was the first year Osawatomie students were part of the camp out with Preston asking the Developmental Leadership class to branch out in an effort to get the ball rolling on a countywide effort. Rachel Schmidt, a Paola senior, began planning the event a year ago. “It was kind of nerve-racking, wondering if it was all going to come together,” Schmidt said. “But, seeing this tonight makes it all worthwhile.” Ruthann, who works at My Father’s House, spoke to the students about her experiences, which left her on the streets years ago, dispelling some of the stereotypes associated with the homeless that are more fiction than fact. A lot of people think the homeless are there because of drugs, but the reality is that the majority wind up there due to an expense they cannot recover from, such as a trip to the hospital without insurance to cover mounting medical bills. “If someone would have told me I would be homeless, I never would have believed them,” Ruthann said. Ruthann was working at a temporary position in Tennessee, hopeful the position would soon be full-time when she was hit by someone in an automobile accident. Working in a temporary position, Ruthann had no insurance. “I had an injury that hindered my ability to work,” Ruthann said.  She began to progress, but the stress of trying to keep her job and pay all of the bills while recovering became too much to bear. Ruthann moved to Kansas City, Mo., and suffered a seizure, which has left her using a walker. She moved to Miami County and became homeless. “I never thought I would ever be in this position,” Ruthann said. She heard My Father’s House had an opening for someone and gladly took the job, sharing her story. Students spent Saturday evening using nothing but cardboard boxes, box cutters, duct tape and plastic to build shelter and spent the night at Panther Stadium to experience, even if just for one night, what the homeless face every day in Miami County. “This isn’t just a slumber party,” Preston told the students. “I know you are building shelter with boxes for tonight and going home in the morning to a warm breakfast and a warm bed. “Tonight, while you are out here, I want you to think about the homeless people here in Miami County who don’t have a warm bed to go home to,” Preston said. Paola students spent the day of the camp out collecting money for My Father’s House and drawing attention to the homeless. Students raised more than $2,500. Molly Delks was the leading fund-raiser, collecting $274. Her team with Molli Morgan and Elizabeth Straley raised $637. Schmidt was among the students working as teams to build their shelter out of boxes. The rain kept pelting her and other teams. What started as mist, turned into a downpour by 1:30 in the morning, causing many of the homeless campers to get wet. “A lot of people, when they think of the homeless, they think of the big city,” Schmidt said. “But there are people right here in Miami County and here in Paola who are homeless. “We are trying to help bring awareness to homelessness with this event,” she said. “A night like tonight, staying out here in the cardboard boxes, really makes you appreciate what you have.” When they started to build their homes, it was still rather warm for November. But as the rain continued to fall as the night wore on, the temperatures fell right along with it. Many of the structures did not stand up to the elements and students faced the cold the homeless deal with every day in the winter. “This is for a great cause,” Johanna Ryckert said. “Too bad it is on a frigid night, but it gives you an appreciation for what the homeless face.” Homelessness is a problem people know is out there somewhere, but fail to realize it is right here, too, Gus Hart said. “An experience like this really hits you,” Hart said. “I didn’t realize before tonight that we had homeless people in Miami County. This just opens your eyes.”
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