Student group attempts to know the life of the homeless
A group of business students have been living in cardboard boxes to raise awareness
Joce DeWitt
Issue date: 5/4/11 Section: News
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Students of a business practicum class created a fundraising project meant to educate the Oregon State University community about the homeless by living in cardboard boxes around campus Monday, Tuesday and today.
Group coordinator Scott Harper, a senior in business, developed the idea of "Build Your Own Box" as the final project of the class. He and five other students have been living homeless this week in solidarity with those of the homeless community.
"We are doing day to day what normal homeless people would do," Harper said.
The project is not only meant to raise awareness, but also to erase the stigma that follows homelessness.
Group member Jessica Criger, who contacted the media as well as involved the Corvallis Police so the group's safety was ensured, said the motivation of the project was getting students to realize "it's so much more than not having a place to sleep at night."
The group has spent the last two days and nights outside on or around campus in boxes taken from dumpsters, attending classes when necessary and living on contributions from local resource centers, including the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center.
After volunteering their time Monday evening at a student-run spaghetti feed in order to obtain a free meal, Criger recalled the initial feeling of what it was like to live homeless as the group was rarely sure of when the next meal would be available.
"I was constantly looking on the ground for change," she said.
According to the official BYOB Facebook page, the group strives to accomplish their goals by "taking a holistic approach to understanding why individuals end up homeless" and looking at all sides of the issue so assistance can be more effective. One major side of this issue is sleeping without shelter.
"We set up camp under one of the big trees in the quad. It was freezing," Harper said of the first night. "We wrapped ourselves up in old copies of your newspaper."
In the state of Oregon, there are more than 17,000 people living homeless. The indignity that society imposes on the homeless community is unmerited, since in reality many have college degrees, Harper said.
Chamroeun (Nathan) Lim, the public relations and risk management officer of BYOB, wanted to gain insight on what this large community has to do to survive through emotional and psychological perspective.
"The homeless stereotype is that they are lazy," Lim said. "We're trying to understand and research about the homeless community and trying to see if we can survive without touching our wallets."
The project will continue raising awareness and begin fundraising efforts with an all-campus BYOB event in the Memorial Union Quad on May 26. The purpose of the inclusive event is to provide students with an environment that imitates that of the homeless for a single night and raise proceeds for the Daytime Drop-in Center.
All participants will construct their own shelter for the night out of cardboard donated from local businesses and recycle centers. The box that allows the most people inside will receive a prize.
The event will assist those already living homeless and alter misconceptions about homeless people through personal experience.
"Everyone struggles with something," Harper said. "We're fortunate that (the) stuff we struggle with doesn't put us on the street."
Joce DeWitt, staff writer
737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com
"The homeless stereotype is that they are lazy," Lim said. "We're trying to understand and research about the homeless community and trying to see if we can survive without touching our wallets."
The project will continue raising awareness and begin fundraising efforts with an all-campus BYOB event in the Memorial Union Quad on May 26. The purpose of the inclusive event is to provide students with an environment that imitates that of the homeless for a single night and raise proceeds for the Daytime Drop-in Center.
All participants will construct their own shelter for the night out of cardboard donated from local businesses and recycle centers. The box that allows the most people inside will receive a prize.
The event will assist those already living homeless and alter misconceptions about homeless people through personal experience.
"Everyone struggles with something," Harper said. "We're fortunate that (the) stuff we struggle with doesn't put us on the street."
Joce DeWitt, staff writer
737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com
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