CSUF Hosts Homeless Symposium to Bring Awareness to Locals

 By: Madison Frazer

The Department of Human Communication Studies partnered with Artists United to End Homelessness to host a homeless symposium on campus Sunday. Human Communication Studies Department Chair Dr. Jon Bruschke explains, "The main barrier to permanent solutions for the homeless in Orange County is the lack of a consensus and a fractured public dialogue. As a department committed to community engagement and productive, data-driven debate, we feel our talents are central to moving this issue forward and this symposium is an important part of that dialogue."

The room was full of emotional photos of local homeless taken by photographer David Freeman. Attendees included activists, students, and locals looking to find updates on the local homeless status, and gain knowledge on the proactive efforts that are being made. Thank you to all of the speakers and guests who came out and shared their stories.

Dr. David Snow, a professor from UCI, presented research on homelessness in the Orange County area. Snow discussed the importance of comparing the cost of providing homes versus the damage to the city of keeping them on the streets. His findings suggest that it is almost double the amount if the city continues to provide shelter inadequately.

Brooke Weitzman, a profound activist in the Orange County area, works on bringing lawsuits to the city in order to better the living conditions of the homeless and protecting their constitutional rights. She presented an insight to the legal aspect of providing care for the homeless and promoted that the problem was the lack of political will to make changes and not the absence of homes.

The second half of the symposium was centered around personal stories from the artist who have suffered from being homeless or are currently homeless. Artists like DJ Markluv, Tyrone Stokes, and Carvell Holloway presented some of the challenges they encounter reaching out to homeless kids and the positive impact that hip hop culture can have on local youth. Grammy nominee Megan Greenough told a story of her personal struggle with being homeless at a time and performed a song that she wrote inspired by that period of her life.

Stephanie Serrano, the founder of Seeds of Peace, presented her thoughts on the foster system and the culture between youths. Many who come out of the system end up on the streets at some point, and there's a link between the cultures inside and outside of the system that plays a part of the homeless problem.

Dr. Bruschke says, "it is really, really rare for difference-making nonprofits, legal advocates, grassroots groups, artists, and high-end researchers to be in the same room at the same time. The fact that the last presentation by the United Way won applause from a group that had been critiquing the current models for approaching homelessness really told me we had the right group together." You could feel the emotional support and powerful energy swell in the room with every new speaker. It was a fantastic event full of passionate people who work hard to bring awareness to the issue of the local homeless in Orange County.