While most students slept soundly beneath the covers of their dorm room beds, about 40 Habitat for Humanity members opted for a piece of turf on the Quad, camping out to raise awareness about poverty housing.

At 10 a.m.Thursday, students set up a community of boxes they dubbed ‘Shantytown’ on the Quad near Hendricks Chapel and then decorated the ‘town’ with various facts about homelessness. Throughout the day, they handed out flyers to passers-by, each with a different fact from Habitat’s ’15 Things You Should Know About Poverty’ campaign.

‘Even if people just look at [our information] for a second, we’re just trying to get the word out there,’ said Shannon Murphy, a sophomore Spanish major.

The demonstration caught the attention of Yasmin Vahdatpour, a freshman psychology major, who sat down on a nearby bench to leaf through the flyers and pamphlets.

‘Everyone has to walk on the Quad,’ Vahdatpour said after picking up several brochures. ‘You want to stop and see what they’re doing.’

The second part of ‘Shantytown’ is an overnight campout on the Quad. Students gathered with blankets and cardboard boxes to simulate homelessness.

Julia Rocchi, a sophomore marketing and television, radio and film major, maintained that the project was more than just mayhem – it was mayhem with a purpose. While Habitat members prepared themselves for a night of music and games, several acknowledged that the ‘Shantytown’ residents could never experience the full effects of homelessness.

‘It’s not real ’cause we go home in the morning; we shower; we eat,’ Murphy said. ‘Others might not have the chance.’

As one Habitat flyer said, almost half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. Nonetheless, the nine-hour demonstration gave Habitat members a chance to not only spread the word about housing issues but also realize the deeper purpose for their involvement.

‘I was carrying cardboard boxes while everyone was leaving the pep rally, and I felt weird,’ said Katherine Talaga, a junior accounting major. ‘People were staring at me, and I realized that the homeless have to deal with this kind of stuff all the time.

‘They deserve housing too, they just had some bad luck.’

This is the first time that Habitat has been able to hold ‘Shantytown’ at SU. Last year, failure to obtain proper permission from the Department of Public Safety prevented the event from happening.

Habifest is a week-long culmination of events put on by Habitat to raise awareness about homelessness worldwide. Other events included a forum on institutional racism, classroom presentations and a fund-raiser at Cold Stone Creamery. The week concludes tomorrow night at 6 p.m. in Grant Auditorium with a Date Auction.

More than 500 campus chapters of Habitat for Humanity nationwide are participating in Habifest this week. Habitat members have described the events so far as successful and fulfilling.

‘My family background has an emphasis on family and community,’ Rocchi said. ‘By being in Habitat, I feel like I can pass on that sense of family and community to others.’

Published on April 10, 2003 at 12:00 pm