 "Photo: Maxwell Sumner")
 "Photo: Maxwell Sumner")
Gonzaga students are conscious of the homeless community in Spokane.
Students showed awareness this week as the JUSTICE Club held a Homelessness Awareness Panel, followed by a Houseless Challenge camp-out on the Herak quad to simulate homelessness.
Joe Anderson, president of the JUSTICE Club, said that the club's main mission this week is to raise awareness and better understand and appreciate the struggle of homelessness through the camp-out.
In general, the JUSTICE Club suggests what students can do to impact the homeless population is to make connections.
"We encourage students to do whatever they feel they are called to, where they can make the most significant difference in the community and within themselves," Anderson said in an e-mail. "We also understand that it is difficult to address an issue without being in relationship with those who you are serving, thus, we strongly encourage students to build relationships with members of the homeless community."
On Monday night, the homelessness panel, composed of Fr. Mike Woods, S.J., of the religious studies department, Nadine Van Stone from St. Margaret's Shelter, John Semmens and Jon Killoran from House of Charity, Phil Altmeyer of Union Gospel Mission, Mike Rowles, a homeless activist, and junior David Whitehead, addressed some of the experiences and issues associated with homelessness in Spokane.
Shelters are overflowing, except for Union Gospel Mission, which has stricter policies on admittance for potential residents.
Semmens said there are 104 beds at the House of Charity to house people over night.
"We are at capacity pretty much every night," Semmens said.
He estimated that House of Charity denies five to 15 men every night due to lack of space.
Stone reiterated St. Margaret's turns away 70 men, women and children every month due to limited room.
Stone also commented that in the future there may be a more centralized intake source for homelessness.
A more centralized source, for example one phone number through the city, would be able to direct the homeless to available venues rather than having all of the charities operate independently, unsure of whether the closest shelter down the road has room.
"I don't know that we need more shelter but we need more housing" Stone said.
Both Altmeyer and Stone affirmed that last year's tent city was a form of protest against the city's lack of affordable housing.
On Oct. 21, The Spokesman-Review ran an article in which the new rules for a tent city were stated: The camps require sponsors, as well as the willingness of the sponsors to work with agencies that try to place the camp residents in more permanent situations. There are also new codes for sanitation, fires and identification after the tent city in the Chief Garry neighborhood was shut down last year.
In addition to JUSTICE Club, two Bulletin staffers experienced a night on the streets a few weeks ago. Tony Schick, features editor, and Tyler Huggins, opinion editor, spent a Saturday night homeless, interacting with people and listening to their stories.
Much of what Schick and Huggins experienced paralleled what the panel members spoke about.
Schick and Huggins met a woman named Dotty Wolfinjer who had a past of abuse and rape.
Altmeyer cited histories of abuse and deteriorated familial structure as one of the main causes of homelessness.
Wolfinjer also mentioned the shortage of low-income housing. The Commercial Apartments, the Otis Hotel and the New Madison Apartments which no longer serve as affordable housing.
In the Oct. 24 edition of the Bulletin, both Schick and Huggins approached the idea of a tent city at Gonzaga.
Whitehead supports a tent city on campus because he believes that as students the first reaction they must have toward the homeless is to treat them with dignity and recognition.
"A tent city at Gonzaga would be impressive," Whitehead said. "It would be a statement of recognition of homelessness in Spokane and the United States."
Whitehead added that if Gonzaga were to host a tent city, it would need to follow the stipulation that a tent city is not a permanent end.
The panel members agreed that a tent city is not the solution, but part of furthering the process for the homeless.
Anderson said the JUSTICE Club supports a tent city on campus, although they are realistic about the realities of the process to support one.
"It would certainly be beneficial to the Gonzaga community by bringing to life its mission statement focused on social justice and service. It would take a sincere commitment from the whole Gonzaga community for a tent city to come to fruition on campus," Anderson said.
Fr. Mike Woods, S.J., made the point that helping the homeless is as much service as realization for the individual.
"Helping the homeless is to discover your own poverty, your own brokenness, your own alienation," he said.
When dealing with social injustices of this magnitude, he suggested, "Go to the sources of the problem to change the structures because that is where the problem gets worked out."
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