CHAMPAIGN, ILL (WAND): Living life rough on the streets, that's how a Champaign homeless advocate described his 14 day journey into the life of his homeless community members.
Warren Charter left the comfort of home for two weeks, embracing cold and uncomfortable Winter days and nights. From tents to shelters to food pantries to plasma donations, Charter did what he could to survive and to learn what the homeless experience daily. “I'm not homeless, so I will never truly understand but I'm using this opportunity to build a little more empathy about what their day is like." Charter tells WAND News. He built that empathy by pitching his own tent, which is something not allowed by the City of Champaign. Yet, he says survival doesn't adhere to any rules.
Charter is living life in the open and is learning how the homeless might be perceived. “Most of the guys that we see that are struggling are dealing with the addiction issue of some kind or mental health issue, I have been drawn to the struggle and watching how they're kind of kept down." The pull he feels toward the homeless community pushes him to bring more of their struggles to light. Struggles that one homeless community, Make Maher, wants Charter to share to as many people as he can reach. "Some of the struggles that we do face, the cold. Also that... all it takes is one bad day and anyone can be in this position... maybe some sympathy.” Maher says when asked what message he wants Charter to bring awareness to. “The homeless have a stigma of being lazy and you can't put all the homeless in one box, each individual person has their own challenges," Charter details as he passionately describes why the homeless are community members deserving of dignity, respect and help.
Charter captures the entire 14 day journey here, sharing stories, challenges and intimate moments of his life on the streets. He walked out on the first day with just the clothes he was wearing and the gear on his back, figuring out his temporary life as he goes. He documented ways he is surviving, like using the bus system as a home one night and riding buses until he was kicked off. He donated plasma to make money throughout the 14 days and afford meals and gear he needed along the way. He relied on food pantries in Champaign only one day a week to better grasp food insecurity on a day to day basis. He slept in a tent in sub-zero wind chills on a frigid February night.
Throughout the two weeks, he sat down with the homeless community in Champaign, noticing they are more than just people living on the streets. Charter says, "they are guys that were drafted for professional baseball, guys that were illustrators of children's books. They're a generous, intelligent, giving group." They trusted Warren with their stories. One homeless member telling Charter his life in high school as a student wrestler and football player. While they reminisce about life then, one homeless man describes his life now. "The hardest part about the whole thing, isn't about being afraid of people coming up, robbing you, which happened many times to me. It's having wet socks that I don’t have any money to dry them. So now I have wet socks, now I have trench foot, now what am I gonna do?"
Although they carry their unique challenges and struggles, Charter says they are constantly dismissed saying, "people scurry by and they don't want to make eye contact with me, they don't want to talk, that's the aspect of the homelessness that we need to get past and be able to walk up to a guy that is homeless and say ‘hey, what’s going on’ and have that conversation." And through his conversations on the street, he's learned how tight knit this community. He says, “the ability to rally around each other, take care of each other, and then taking care of me…they gave me a little insights tricks to survive out here and get by."
One man offering him a sleeping bag he didn't need, taking just one glimpse of generosity among many others. Charter says he picked up on what he calls "street skills" and says he is not able to share these skills, knowing it may put some homeless community members in jeopardy. On a cold single-digit degree temperature night, Charter built his tent for his 11th night on the street and stayed inside the entire night, despite the rough conditions of a cold midwestern night.
All this... to see the change he can make. "If I truly understand, instead of telling them what they need, to be able to hear what they need and give that back.” Charter describes how this experience is helping him recognize what the "street guys" need. Yet as he learns firsthand how this world works and how to spark change from he inside out, he carries a secret. What people who pass by him day and night during the 2 weeks don't know is, he's the founder of the Street Outreach Movement, a non-profit working to end homelessness.
Through his non-profit, Charter works with them on their level. "We continue to work with them to take them to those doctor's appointments, court appointments, in jail coming out, or when they encounter law enforcement on the street before they get into trouble, get hep getting their driver's license, make applications for housing.” All while he is also pushing for help at the city level, asking the City of Champaign to shift their approach from sheltering to housing first. " We need to put them into their own housing unit where they have the ability to shower, cook, sleep, work on whether it's an addiction issue or a mental health side of it or just a chance to regroup and then get back out there." He says about the housing first approach, claiming this is the best way to put an end to homelessness. "Sheltering is a band-aid and it's good that we have a band-aid, but now we need to start looking at a housing first approach."
Mike Maher says the journey Charter has put himself on is sure to bring more attention to guys like him. “He is doing an amazing thing to bring light to what its like to be homeless. He doesn't have to be in this position and I think its really good what he's doing." Charter knows from his firsthand experience, being homeless can happen for someone, one day to the next. “We all have the possibility of becoming homeless. It doesn't take much to turn stuff around." Charter says, while Maher echoes the sentiment saying, “I want to see them, get that dignity and respect, regardless of where they are at.”
Charter will continue pushing for a change in how everyone off the streets, sees those on them.
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