Hillel Panel Puts Human Face On Homelessness

A panel of eight New England homeless people spoke about the country's growing homelessness problem in Smith Hall at the Harvard Hillel yesterday.

The main goal of the event, according to Hillel organizers, was to put a human face on the problem of homelessness.

Each speaker told a different story about his or her slide into poverty.

All had either been victims of mental or physical illness, child abuse, drug addiction or alcoholism.

One man, George Capinegro, explained how, within a year, his mother died, he lost his restaurant and his marriage ended.

"It seemed like the whole world was gone. Nothing was left," he said.

Throughout the night, the six homeless men and two homeless women also tried to dispel myths about homelessness.

Catherine Rhodes objected to the belief that homeless people are uneducated.

She said she was attending the University of Rhode Island when she was evicted from her apartment.

Rhodes also tried to dispel the myth that "the poor are poor because they're not working hard enough."

They also said the minimum wage in the U.S. is far too low to support one person, much less a family.

All of the panel's speakers said they were involved in the fight against homelessness.

Nikita Williams, another speaker, recently made a movie about homeless people living in Boston Commons.

Tom Boland said he battles the problem through the online periodical, Homeless People's News.

Boland said his poetry about homelessness has been published all over the world.

While a number of the speakers praised Harvard's efforts to combat homelessness, Boland said he partly blames Harvard for the rising homelessness in Cambridge.

"Every time Harvard buys property it drives the rent up," Boland said.

Despite the seriousness of the subject, the speakers remained positive.

"We're not homeless; we're outdoorsmen," Williams joked.

One panelist, Sandra Han, had to leave early because of her shelter's curfew, making real the problem homelessness to the audience.

The event, which drew about 40 people to Hillel, was cosponsored by the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter at University Lutheran and the Housing Opportunities Program.

Mostly, the speakers encouraged students to volunteer at homeless shelters or soup kitchens.

"If you want to change a life, work at a shelter," said Capinegro.