Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Where is she tonight?
I spend some time most every week at the library. In the past month or so, I've noticed a homeless woman who seems to be spending quite a lot of time there, too. She's always in the same chair, with a couple of small bags in the chair next to her. Most days, she also has three or four books on the little table that swings from the arm of her chair. Last week, she was walking around in her stocking feet as her boots dried next to the baseboard heater. I remember thinking that it looked like a fairly pleasant way to spend the afternoon - probably a welcome respite. But then again, I thought, what do I know?
When I was at the library today, she was there too, with her nose in a book, just like me. It was 41 degrees or so outside at the time, positively balmy for Chicago in January. But now, at 9:30 p.m., my outdoor thermometer says it's 7, and with the windchill, I'm sure it's well below zero. The poor weatherman on TV is looking miserable as the snow blows sideways around him. And I'm sure he's only out for a few minutes!
I wonder where my fellow-reader is right now. These are the Chicago suburbs. There's not a series of warming centers like in the city. I know Journeys from PADS to HOPE offers shelter around here, as do PADS organziations throughout the suburbs. I hope she's able to get to one - or has some other warm place to go. And as I think about her, I'm 1) really grateful for my own warm house, 2) really glad that PADS is one of the organizations my church supports, and 3) fervent about my work with ELCA World Hunger, which is so dedicated to addressing root causes of hunger and poverty. No one should have to wonder where to find heat on a night like this.
When I was at the library today, she was there too, with her nose in a book, just like me. It was 41 degrees or so outside at the time, positively balmy for Chicago in January. But now, at 9:30 p.m., my outdoor thermometer says it's 7, and with the windchill, I'm sure it's well below zero. The poor weatherman on TV is looking miserable as the snow blows sideways around him. And I'm sure he's only out for a few minutes!
I wonder where my fellow-reader is right now. These are the Chicago suburbs. There's not a series of warming centers like in the city. I know Journeys from PADS to HOPE offers shelter around here, as do PADS organziations throughout the suburbs. I hope she's able to get to one - or has some other warm place to go. And as I think about her, I'm 1) really grateful for my own warm house, 2) really glad that PADS is one of the organizations my church supports, and 3) fervent about my work with ELCA World Hunger, which is so dedicated to addressing root causes of hunger and poverty. No one should have to wonder where to find heat on a night like this.
Labels: ELCA World Hunger, homelessness, PADS
Monday, January 28, 2008
Homeless in Second Life
I was driving home from work the other day when the radio did a spot on how economic reality was hitting the virtual world Second Life. Apparently, the Second Life (SL) economy is suffering from bank closings, and some real-life retailers have closed up their SL shops, not having seen the results they wanted. This made me wonder: Are there homeless people in Second Life? Regardless of how people are doing in their first life, are they learning about - or even intentionally trying out - homelessness in their Second Life?
You can probably tell by my questions that I'm not a Second Life citizen. But the whole concept of the place pretty much intrigues me. So I Googled "Second Life homeless" just to see what I would find. Indeed! Some interesting results! For example, this was posted by one Orhan Ayyuce as a comment to a blog: "my avatar is faceless right now and it is cold outside. i spent last night sleeping next to bunch of dead avatars in the graveyard where people just died from SL hardship. well like i said i am homeless at the moment and i don't know how much more i can go like this without the full membership."
Or try this, in Mitch Radcliffe's blog: "When I rejoined Second Life last summer... I created Homeless Hermes, who would go and sit in people’s houses and on their land, just waiting. And when someone would show up, creeping around me like they would a stranger they found in their physical yards—you could see them not wanting to be rude, but being all the same kinds of possessive you see in people everywhere, all the time—I’d give them some Linden money. It made people nervous."
And there were many Google results like this one about a Spanish NGO that put a virtual boy with a cardboard box on a corner to raise awareness about homelessness and their organization (Mensajeros de la Paz).
Again, I don't really know anything about functioning in SL. But from these few results, it seems like there's an opportunity to build an educational experience around what it's like to be homeless. And perhaps, like Mensajeros de la Paz, there's a way to tie the experience back to real-life organizations that give people an outlet for action. What a tool that would be for those of us fighting poverty and hunger! Perhaps someone has already done it?! Or wants to take it on?
You can probably tell by my questions that I'm not a Second Life citizen. But the whole concept of the place pretty much intrigues me. So I Googled "Second Life homeless" just to see what I would find. Indeed! Some interesting results! For example, this was posted by one Orhan Ayyuce as a comment to a blog: "my avatar is faceless right now and it is cold outside. i spent last night sleeping next to bunch of dead avatars in the graveyard where people just died from SL hardship. well like i said i am homeless at the moment and i don't know how much more i can go like this without the full membership."
Or try this, in Mitch Radcliffe's blog: "When I rejoined Second Life last summer... I created Homeless Hermes, who would go and sit in people’s houses and on their land, just waiting. And when someone would show up, creeping around me like they would a stranger they found in their physical yards—you could see them not wanting to be rude, but being all the same kinds of possessive you see in people everywhere, all the time—I’d give them some Linden money. It made people nervous."
And there were many Google results like this one about a Spanish NGO that put a virtual boy with a cardboard box on a corner to raise awareness about homelessness and their organization (Mensajeros de la Paz).
Again, I don't really know anything about functioning in SL. But from these few results, it seems like there's an opportunity to build an educational experience around what it's like to be homeless. And perhaps, like Mensajeros de la Paz, there's a way to tie the experience back to real-life organizations that give people an outlet for action. What a tool that would be for those of us fighting poverty and hunger! Perhaps someone has already done it?! Or wants to take it on?
Labels: education, homelessness, Second Life
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