The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
‘Break down the barrier of shame’
Melissa King invites others to camp out Friday night to raise homeless awareness in the city
ONEIDA, N.Y. » For 12 hours, Melissa King will sleep outdoors to raise awareness for the plight of the homeless.
As Karing Kitchen coordinator, King volunteers extensively in the area and does her best to bring out people’s empathy for those less fortunate.
For the past seven years, King has staked out a tent in the city for at least one night during the winter in order to get the community talking.
“We do not have a homeless shelter in the area. We have a homeless population that is hidden and people don’t understand that,” King said. “People refer to the homeless as what they see on TV.”
The bag ladies, the people car- rying all their things and panhandlers in the street -- King said that is not what happens in Madison County.
“We have people who are working, but for whatever reason, their hours got shortened and they can’t pay the rent,” King said. “Unfortunately, the rent is very high in this city.”
According to King, there are people who use cover stories to hide the fact they are homeless and use excuses to stay with friends or family for a couple days.
“I hate to say this, but employers tend to look at homeless and ask ‘Howemployable are you?’ It’s a fear in people’s lives,” King said.
King said she knew a college student who was afraid to tell
anyone he was homeless for fear his financial aid would be pulled. He used a friend’s address as his mailing address and simply got by until he was able to graduate.
By sleeping outside, King hopes to raise more awareness of what some people have gone through. She said she knew someone who was homeless and fell asleep in a snowbank because they did not have any other option.
“People have said all the time ‘I’d join you if you did it in July’,” King said. “I get why people don’t want to join me, but my solution to that is for people to lower their heat on Friday. Get an idea of what families struggling are going through. I can’t tell you how many families keep their heat set at 55, families with health issues. They’re trying to stay on a budget.”
King has slept out at different times of the year, including February, March and April. April was the worst month, King said, and that surprised her.
“It made me realize that everyone has a different situation. You think in April that you can get by, but you’re worse off with the rains. There was no snow, but the ground was so cold and damp. I was colder than when I slept out in February,” King said.
This has been a particularly cold year and King said she knows more than a fewfamilies that normally fill up their fuel oil for heat only once a year and are already on their third re-fill.
King doesn’t know if any- one is joining her this year, but invites anyone interested to come down on Friday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in front of the First United Methodist Church on Main Street.
“The reality is if we keep talking about this, we can break down the barrier of shame. People will be willing to receive services and talk to family about this,” King said. “That’s the hardest part.”