Homelessness in Madison
Every night up to 400 people sleep outside in Madison. Every year over 3500 people experience homelessness in Madison whether it is a one time occasion or chronic homelessness. Looking at Madison geographically it is not a big city, so it is shocking how many people are homeless here. The problem is there are many people who do not have there own home to live in. Where they are protected from the elements of nature because of this people are living outside in the freezing winters of Wisconsin and freezing, or not being able to afford food and starving. If a person has any bit of empathy they would realize it is important for those who live around them to have the basic necessities needed to survive. In Madison Wisconsin there are plenty of these people who do not have these basic necessities and their neighbors should take the initiative to help them out, because if the lives of the homeless are better our communities will as a whole improve.
There are many stories of homeless people, Glen’s is one of them. Glen is a 19 year-old homeless friend of Friends Of The State Street Family. He is gifted in composing music in his head. After going through all the things he has gone through living in the streets of Madison, Wisconsin, he still finds a way to express strong and beautiful emotions throughout his compositions that he creates. The Friends Of The State Street Family also say, “Not only is he musically gifted, but he understands and can discuss and theorize complex philosophical ideas, physics and so much more,” clearly Glen is much more than just a homeless man, he has a very gifted mind and deserves much more than what he has gotten in life. Glen also has a youtube video of him playing his compositions. There are many others like Glen that are much more than what they appear to be and could really use help, hope, and support from others.
A organization that helps the homeless in Madison is Friends Of The State Street Family. The Friends Of The State Street Family is a nonprofit group that collects basic survival material, like food, water, clothes, tents, sleeping bags and many other items in which they give to the homeless of Madison, WI. They also give the homeless a voice and talk with public officials about the needs of the homeless. Friends Of The State Street Family have over 800 members, and on top of everything else they do, they go out and talk to organizations like churches and police to aware them about homelessness in Madison. Friends Of The State Street Family is ran completely off of donations and volunteering. Every Saturday at 3pm, they run a food stand free for the hungry on top of State Street. They have estimated they have given out over 8,400 meals since starting. This is a very important organization to the homeless and everyone in Madison Wisconsin, and anyone can volunteer by getting a hold of the group from their website.
It is important that everyone living in Madison, and everywhere else for that matter has access to the basic necessities of surviving and a roof over their head with at least a little privacy. It is very important that we all have these so we can all have healthy lives and our communities can strive. If anyone wants to do their part and help out our communities and the homeless in them you can donate or volunteer at http://friendsofthestatestreetfamily.org/ or http://trhome.org/ . All donations go to buying supplies and items for friends in need of food, clothing, and shelter.
Works Cited
“Friends Of The State Street Family” http://friendsofthestatestreetfamily.org/. Wed. 2 Mar. 2016.
“Porchlight; Homelessness In Madison”. http://porchlightinc.org/homelessness-in-madison/. Wed. 2 Mar. 2016.