LJWorld.com / KU students announce homelessness awareness project

Progress 2007 Behind the scenes

J-W Staff Reports

April 21, 2007

To donate a sleeping bag, drop it off by May 1 at the Lawrence Community Shelter, 214 W. 10th St., or the Pelathe Center, 1423 Haskell Ave. For more information, e-mail Shoutlawrence@gmail.com or call 766-6539.

Shannon Williams and Jenni Holtaway are disturbed by a national trend known as “bum bashing,” and they’re determined to do something to end that sort of violence here in Lawrence.

“Bum bashing” is when a group of individuals attack a homeless person for no reason other than personal pleasure. Williams and Holtaway, both Kansas University students pursuing master’s degrees in social work, said 142 people were attacked in such incidents nationwide last year. Twenty of those people were killed.

Two Lawrence homeless people were attacked this February.

“This is wrong. We need to do something about it,” Holtaway said in early April.

In an effort to promote awareness, Williams and Holtaway have planned a visual display to represent the 144 people who have been attacked. They’re asking for donations of new and lightly used sleeping bags that they will display May 5 in South Park. Each bag will be tagged with the name of an individual who was a victim of violence.

“We want people to know this is going on. There are so many people that don’t know and are shocked when we tell them,” Holtaway said.

After the display concludes, Williams and Holtaway will donate the sleeping bags to the Lawrence Community Shelter and the Salvation Army.

Williams said that most often, people simply don’t understand what the homeless face.

“These people are being beaten, raped or set on fire,” Williams said. “The homeless people are as scared of society as society is of them.”

Loring Henderson, executive director of the Lawrence Community Shelter, agreed. Henderson said he was highly supportive of the project.

“(Violence) is a serious issue. Homeless people are afraid because that has happened a lot,” he said.

Henderson said he was encouraged that these kinds of violent acts are comparatively rare in Lawrence, and he credits Lawrence Police for creating a general atmosphere of safety.

He is excited and appreciative of the possibility of receiving some of these sleeping bags.

“Sleeping bags are worth their weight in gold to homeless people,” Henderson said. “Sleeping bags help make people just a little more comfortable.”

Discussion

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21 April 2007 at 11:06 a.m.

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smitty (Anonymous) says…

Breaking news!!! This is the exact same story that was published last week.
21 April 2007 at 2:21 p.m.

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leadrain (Anonymous) says…

Like I suggested previously, summer is near, they'll stay warm enough. And anyone with any innitiative won't BE homeless by the time it chills off. But, for those lazy, shiftless, beligerant ones; go ahead and give them the bag, they'll need all the extra padding they can get.
21 April 2007 at 9:04 p.m.

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JLoh21 (Anonymous) says…

Perhaps shannon and jenni should really be true to their beliefs and let a few of the “homeless” move in with them.