USC hosts homelessness awareness week

This week, USC students will have the opportunity to join the efforts to end homelessness in Los Angeles. A collaboration between the USC Interfaith Council, Office of Religious Life, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and Price School of Public Policy, USC’s Homelessness Awareness Week provides a variety of events where students can learn about how to get involved in ending homelessness.

The events include information tables around campus, a march from the Office of Religious Life to Tommy Trojan, a movie screening, a walking tour of Skid Row, a rally and panels featuring various guest speakers.

“The goal of this week is to make students and the USC community aware of the seriousness of the problem of homelessness in Los Angeles, and also to discover where to be involved in solving the problem through charity and political action,” said Reverend Jim Burklo, associate dean of Religious Life.

In addition to learning about how to get involved through charity, students can also register to vote and learn more about Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion Los Angeles Bond campaign to build housing for homeless people.

“The timing is perfect because Nov. 8 is coming very soon, and it’s a time to inform the public about the issue,” Burklo said.

For those interested in volunteering to help stop homelessness, organizations and agencies such as PATH, NAMI, A Community of Friends, Nourished, LA Voice and Share a Meal will be on campus throughout the week.

Jack Lahey, a USC alumnus who earned his master’s degree in social work, is now the Project Assistant and Project Coordinator for two different homelessness-related research projects. Lahey said that part of his position is funded by the Grand Challenge to End Homelessness, a nationwide initiative by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. He emphasized that he was one of the only staff members planning the event, and that it was mostly student-run.

“It’s almost all students,” Lahey said. “I think that’s really important, because the administration is supportive of it, but the students are in leadership.”

Jaclyn Nguyen, a senior majoring in Spanish and human biology, helped organize Homelessness Awareness Week.

“I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” Nguyen said. “It’s important to demonstrate that USC is supporting the city in battling homelessness. I am just astounded at how much support and enthusiasm we have gotten from different groups throughout the past weeks.”   

Lahey also helped start Nourished, a program that allows students to cook healthy and affordable meals for the homeless population of Los Angeles.

“A lot of times when people talk about solutions to homelessness. It’s very monolithic; we think housing will fix it or we think jobs will fix it. Homelessness is a multifaceted issue,” Lahey said. “I think the first step in successfully understanding [homelessness] is education. You have to understand what the causes of homelessness are and what happens when someone is homeless.” 

For Burklo, the work the students have done to make Homelessness Awareness Week a reality was impressive.

“There is tremendous student interest in this,” Burklo said. “It’s pretty impressive how all these groups have come together to stand for working against homelessness.”

The team is trying to plan another Homelessness Awareness Week, which is currently set to take place in January, according to Lahey.

“This is just the beginning of the dialogue,” Lahey said.