Students hope to raise awareness with
Shack-A-Thon
Published - Tuesday, October 05, 2004
By Shannon Fiecke of the Winona (MN) Daily News
Through the eyes of the boy she mentors through Big Brothers Big Sisters, Jessica Nelson has witnessed the need for affordable housing in Winona County.
The Winona State University student can only imagine what
it is like to grow up in an apartment and is willing to sleep
outside to give families the same opportunity she had.
"Owning a house is a big deal to a lot of people,"
she said. "I think it's cool we can help them."
Nelson and other Winona State Habitat of Humanity members
camped out in sub-40 degree temperatures on the university's
courtyard Monday night to raise awareness of homelessness and
substandard and unaffordable housing.
"Why couldn't you do this last week when it was warm
out?" teased a custodian, passing the village made out
of cardboard boxes.
"It's going to be real cold tonight, I'm thinking,"
Nelson said, worried about freezing her extremities.
Club president Sarah Hoffmann hopes the visible presence and
the brochures they hand out will educate students on how
difficult it is for some people to afford a place to live.
The student said someone must earn $21,800 a year to afford a
$545 a month, two-bedroom apartment in the Winona area,
out-of-bounds for a low-wage earner.
"There is no way a person — a single parent with
two children — could be able to pay for rent or housing
in this area with that income," she said.
Winona County Habitat for Humanity has been able to gauge the
lack of affordable housing in the area, executive director
Nancy Iglesias said.
"We have seen a dramatic rise in the number of potential
homeowners that are applying to our program," she said.
"The need is on the rise.
Though not as long as it has been in the past, there's a
waiting list for public housing through the Housing and
Redevelopment Authority of Winona.
"We're taking applications for public housing every
day," executive director Bill Doerer said.
But because of a funding cut, which shrunk its number of
Section 8 vouchers, the agency had to close its Section 8
waiting list in March, Doerer said. The vouchers are used to
subsidize housing costs at private buildings. However, Doerer
knows of at least one place — Washington Crossing
apartments — that is still offering Section 8
assistance.
Particulary hard-pressed are those looking for temporary or
short-term housing, Doerer said.
Homelessness occurs in the Winona area, though it is a bit
more hidden than in other communities, Iglesias said, and
often consists of couch homelessness — where people
bounce to and from friends' houses.
However, Iglesias has heard stories of families living out of
their cars or in tents, but said without a homeless shelter
it is difficult to quantify numbers.
She hopes the fifth annual Shack-a-Thon makes homelessness,
poverty and substandard housing a matter of conscience.
"We want to engage people into some kind of action to
get rid of the problem," she said.
This could include spending a Saturday building a Habitat
home, making a donation or even bringing food to a work site,
she said.
"There are lots of practical ways," she said.
Reporter Shannon Fiecke can be reached at 453-3519 or shannon.fiecke@winonadailynews.com.