PAGE 6 // WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 2, 2009
NEWS
THE PENDULUM
Hammering for the homeless
Melissa Kansky
Reporter
Study abroad, internships and alternative
spring breaks enable Elon students to
experience diversity, but sometimes life in
Elon’s ownbackyard is overlooked. Professor
Anthony Weston’s Ethics in Leadership and
Decision Making class aims to solve this
inconsistency and establish local citizens
as well.
In collaboration with Homelessness
Awareness Week, which was Nov. 15-21,
Weston's class began the Framing Family
Futures program, which strives to provide
for the homeless of Allied Churches Shelter
in Burlington by building beds.
The class encourages students to realize
their power in society. Weston teaches
ethics not as a means of judgment, but
rather as a guide to act as a leader and make
a difference.
“As part of the class we are required
to create a project for Elon which would
create an ethical change,” said sophomore
leadership minor Aaron Moger. “We wanted to
do something that would make a difference
instead of just volunteering hours."
Weston said he also wanted the project
to better the local community. Elon offers
scholarships to Jordanian students and
is currently striving to bring Iraqis to the
school. The focus on the world prompted
Weston to ask, “What about the local
people?”
“Too often we assume too much. We
think we know what someone else needs
and wants,” said a pamphlet compiled by
the class. “Very few of us are familiar with
the surrounding area, a disability that could
cripple our impact on helping to promote
social change.”
To combat misconceptions about the
community’s needs, Weston’s students
contacted the Allied Churches Shelter
to ensure their actions would meet the
organization’s needs.
According to senior Lauren Caldwell,
leader in collaborative services between
Allied Churches and Elon, the biggest
needs include paper plates, cups and other
common goods necessary for operating a
successful shelter. She said she believes
the beds are a huge asset to the shelter as
well.
“The director (of Allied Churches)
acknowledges that we are providing a
place to stay, but not necessarily the most
comfortable (environment),” Caldwell said.
The class completed beds for the entire
women’s and children’s section and built
enough frames to provide the men’s section
with sturdy beds.
In addition to improving the homeless
shelter, students plan to talk with the
residents to better understand their
unfortunate situation.
“Service is a complicated thing and part
of it is relationships,” Weston said.
The project allows each end to both give
and receive.
“We want to promote the ideals of
comfort, mutual respect among one another
and the rising of equal chance,” sophomore
Ellie Jesse, siad.
Caldwell said the project was a success
overall.
“It was impressive to see the dedication
of the students,” she said. “You could tell
they were excited about (the project) and
you could see the shelter guests getting
excited about (the beds) too.”
While the students constructed the bed
frames, a few shelter guests assisted.
“The goal of the class is to create more
project and less judgment,” Weston said.
“We were just people working together.”
But the class is not alone in the plight
against homelessness.
“We are trying to get organizations
involved on campus to promote
sustainability (of the project) so that when
the class ends, the progress and idea of
service remains,” Moger said.
The class’ mission statement expresses
a hope to maintain support for the
homeless so the families will never feel
forgotten or neglected. Moger said the
class adopted eight families to support and
have recruited various club organizations,
sororities and fraternities to assume some
of the responsibility.
“We really wanted to empower the
students to break out of the ‘Elon Bubble,’”
Jesse said.
Aaron Moger echoed her.
“The project is a step in the right
direction toward making the ‘Elon Bubble’
obsolete and creating a more communal
support system between Elon and the
surrounding Burlington community,” he
said.
BRIAN ALLENBY | Photographer
(left to right) Sophomore Ethan Rosenbluth, senior Maggie Landy and sophomore
Frank Campos build bunk beds for the Allied Churches of Alamance County
homeless shelter as part of their Ethics in Leadership and Decision Making class.
EXTENDED BRIEF
State unemployment still
problematic, statistics
show new signs of hope
Dismal economy drives up
the number of those hungry
Out of work
The number of newly laid-off
workers seeking jobless benefits
and the total on jobless rolls each
fell this week.
— Continuing to claim
unemployment insurance
— Making initial claim
6 million
3-
1 —
0-r
Week
ending
Nov. 14
5.42 million
Despite the U.S. government’s
hopefulness in saying the recession is
through, many North Carolinians are
still without a job, a trend that may not
disappear soon.
In August, Gov. Beverly Perdue and
the Notth Carolina Congress approved a
state budget that would cut S225 million
from the North Carolina public school
system and would cause many teachers
to lose their jobs and cut afterschool
programming.
Perdue recently addressed the North
Carolina School Board system and
said she hoped the state would receive
$400 million from the federal stimulus
package of $3.2 billion designated
education innovation grant, which all
states are competing for.
The Alamance County Chamber
of Commerce could not comment on
whether the grant could help Alamance
County schools or if more teachers
could be hired.
Tom Tiemann, chair of Elon's
department of economics, said from
a general perspective, any outside
funding would be beneficial to the local economy.
“Any money from the outside would directly affect the community and
create more jobs,” Tiemann said. “Every job that is saved or created would
make another job.”
Looking at the national unemployment situation, the latest unemployment
claim report shows the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims
was 466,000 during the week of Nov. 21. This information, released by the
United States Department of Labor, shows a decrease of 35,000 from the
previous week’s figure of 501,000.
■ lit) P, ii
Week ending Nov. 21
466,000
2008
"T
2009
GRAPHIC COOFTTESY OF MCT CAMPUS
HUNGER from PAGE 1
Christian non-profit organization, as
well as the Burlington Salvation Army.
Robin Drummond, a caseworker
at the Salvation Army, explained her
clients range in age “from young adults
to middle aged to elderly.”
Unfortunately, the Salvation Army,
as well as other organizations, simply
do not have enough to provide everyone
in need with food.
“We can’t help anyone on a daily
basis,” Drummond said. “We don’t
want to enable them. We have just
enough (food) to get them through an
emergency crisis situation.”
Additionally, Drummond said she
has noticed a shift in the types of
people that frequently visit. While it
was once typically those who had been
homeless and unemployed for years,
Drummond said this is no longer the
case.
“It’s the ones who used to have jobs,
people that have lost their homes, people
that are on minimum wage, people that
have gotten wage cuts,” she said.
Brenda Ingle Allen, director of
Loaves and Fishes, confirmed this
observation. She said the recession has
forced hour cuts and, consequently,
the wages workers are receiving have
become inadequate.
“We have seen a large increase in
numbers of people coming into Loaves
and Fishes since the recession. Our
numbers per month have doubled from
June through now,” Allen said.
She said they now serve about 7,000
people a month and the clients are
allowed to return every 30 days for
more food.
She also said while the lower class
once dominated the clientele, the
middle class has started to become
HOWTO HELP:
Contribute by attending a Christmas
concert on Dec. 20 on campus,
sponsored by Fox 8 News. The cost
of admission is boxed or canned food,
which will be donated to ttie Burlington
Salvation Army.
more prominent.
“The trend is more people
unemployed seeking assistance, also
more people being put on short time,"
Allen said. “Those who normally
worked a full-time job are now working
part time.”
Although organizations such as
these are willing to assist, they do
prioritize based on the severity of
need.
Allen said the amount of food
distributed to families is determined
by how many people are working in the
family, who is disabled or on maternity
leave and various other factors, such
as children, number of vehicles and
amount of bills.
With the holiday season approaching
these organizations said they foresee
more families and individuals in need.
“We expect after Christmas we will
see a high increase in numbers as more
places close and force more to our
doors,” Allen said.
Although the Salvation Army has
only an emergency pantry stocked with
canned dinners such as Spaghetti-O’s,
and beans, cereals and rice, Drummond
said they can only help if people are
willing to donate.
“We’re here trying to do the most
good with what we have available,”
Drummond said.