Barnard Students Partner with Common Ground Community and Take On Homelessness
Barnard Sophomore Natasha Sinha, S2Hi Staffer Doreen Dennis, and Barnard Junior Katie Redmon take down information during the documentation project. |
Barnard alumna Margaret Mead`23 once said that " A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Once again, Barnard students have taken this message to heart and are volunteering their time to end homelessness in New York City in partnership with Common Ground Community's Street to Home Initiative.
The New York City Civic Engagement Program (NYCCEP) at Barnard College first began its partnership with Common Ground Community in the fall of 2004 during the annual Gildersleeve Lecture featuring Rosanne Haggerty, the organization's founder and President. Now, Barnard students and three staff members are once again partnering with the organization to document the homeless in the West Midtown area of Manhattan. Common Ground's Street to Home Initiative (S2Hi) is a strategic partnership bringing together 23 of the neighborhood's outreach teams, hospitals, substance abuse and mental health professionals, veterans' organizations, city offices, soup kitchens, Business Improvement Districts, and other service providers. S2Hi uses an inter-agency database and monthly joint case conferences to maximize the use of existing resources and address identified gaps.
In groups consisting of students and S2Hi professionals, the team went out into the West Midtown area with the goal of spreading the word about Common Ground's housing opportunities and assistance to the homeless in the area who refuse to enter the city's shelter system. During the first two of four nights, the group documented over 98 homeless persons, each of whom S2Hi hopes to be able to house in the coming months. Becky Kanis, Project Director of S2Hi says "We have to take away the anonymity of street homelessness. Barnard is helping us reach out to our homeless neighbors and literally know them by name. The students from Barnard have moved us forward tremendously."
Will Simpkins, Associate Director/Civic Engagement at Barnard College, says that this program "is just one more example of Barnard students taking advantage of New York City to heighten their own awareness of civic issues and to learn the skills necessary to engage in issues of concern to all New Yorkers." Two senior students involved in the group are using this experience as part of their senior thesis projects - one looking into Common Ground as an organization and the other investigating charitable giving in the name of homelessness.
These 16 students are participating in NYCCEP's Barnard Breaks program - aimed at giving students structured opportunities for civic engagement and reflection in New York City during academic breaks. The S2Hi partnership marks the first Barnard Breaks program and all indications mark it as a success!
More information on the Street to Home Initiative can be found at http://www.commonground.org/S2Hi/ including links to support their efforts through charitable giving.
Contact:
Will Simpkins
Associate Director/Civic Engagement
wsimpkin@barnard.edu
212-854-4214
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