Students reach out to help homeless

Vancouver Island University students are reaching out to the community to help homeless women and children.

Liz Tiffin, Olivia Rooke, Erin Woof and Kirsten Boettger spent a month collecting donations and assembling 50 care bags filled with toiletries, notebooks, pens, and other items for women and children who seek emergency shelter at Somenos Transition House in Cowichan. Somenos House – which means resting place – is a temporary shelter for women and children at risk of experiencing violence.

“It’s the only shelter of its kind in the Cowichan Valley,” said Tiffin.

The students assembled the care bags as part of a community outreach project for professor Helene Demers’ Anthropology 316 class at VIU’s Cowichan campus. The course provides an in-depth look at homelessness from a local, national and global perspective.

“The course was eye-opening,” said Tiffin. “It changed how I look at things. The statistics are surprising. It amazes me that in a country as privileged as Canada, there are so many homeless people. Two to three hundred women a year use Somenos House. December and January are their busiest times due to the pressures of the holiday season.”

The students also donated several boxes of used clothing and baby items. Somenos House employees were deeply touched by the students’ generosity and presented each of them with a bouquet of flowers and certificate of appreciation.

Another group of students, Mistia Merkley and Sabrina Elliott, collected items for Hiiye'Yu Lelum's (House Of Friendship) Society. Donations of clothing, toiletries and other items were made to the society’s homelessness program. The Hiiye'yu Lelum (House of Friendship) Society provides health, social, recreational and cultural services to promote individual, family and community self-reliance.

In Demers’ course, students learn the reasons for homelessness through time and from multiple perspectives, as well as the roles and responsibilities of communities and individuals in addressing homelessness. Students are encouraged to produce a research paper which includes specific recommendations or they can undertake a community outreach project instead.

Each semester, students in Demers’ Anthropology 316 class also collect Canadian Tire money. “VIU employees generously donate their Canadian Tire money year after year and the Canadian Tire Corporation matches the amount collected,” said Demers. “Each year, a gift card is donated to a local service provider who offers assistance to the homeless.”

Demers also asks students to write letters to the editors of their local newspaper about homelessness. “The main goal of the course is that students gain a critical analysis of the reasons for homelessness and are empowered to be advocates and allies and initiate and support local initiatives to address homelessness,” said Demers.

Tiffin, a graduate of Cowichan Secondary, said the course provided an excellent opportunity for students to engage in applied research outside of the classroom and give something back to the community. “When you see that your efforts make a difference, it makes everything worthwhile and the learning more relevant.”

Cowichan campus principal Maria Lauridsen praised the students’ efforts and the opportunity provided by faculty like Demers.

“The quality of a university is measured by the quality of its students and faculty,” she said. “It’s gratifying to see our students participate in significant community outreach programs that help improve the lives of people who live in our community. I am certain that participating in such meaningful projects increases student learning ten-fold.”

The VIU Cowichan campus offers a range of anthropology courses each year. Starting in January 2011, Anthropology 111 (introductory physical anthropology and archaeology), 112 (introductory cultural anthropology) and 280 (oral traditions through time: a cross-cultural perspective) will be offered. For more information, visit www.viu.ca/cowichan