Lansing resident Terri Catano discusses being homeless and how her Christian faith helped her overcome challenges. Catano plans to get other members of the homeless community involved in creating a quilt to give to another homeless person.
Inspired by her own life experiences, Terri Catano decided something needed to be done to solve the Lansing area’s homelessness problem.
The Lansing resident, who has been homeless for about a year, said the time she spent in shelters and crashing on friends’ couches made her realize she needed to help others who are going through similar circumstances.
“Being in the homeless circuit, I’ve heard and seen so many things,” Catano said. “I know that I’ve been put in this situation because God has a big plan for me.”
Catano is one of many members of the Greater Lansing and MSU communities doing her part to address the issue of destitution in the area.
Eric Hufnagel, executive director of the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, said homelessness is an issue in Lansing, and because of struggles the economy has been facing, the problem has gotten worse in recent years.
He said it is important for community members, such as Catano, to be proactive in their efforts to help put an end to homelessness, whether it be by volunteering at a shelter, raising funds for an agency or serving meals at a soup kitchen.
“These are people that are in need of some assistance, and from that standpoint as humans, we should be reaching out to help others,” Hufnagel said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Necessary action
While in an art class at Advent House Ministries, 743 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in Lansing, Catano said she came up with an idea to help local homeless individuals express what being homeless means to them.
Catano said her plan is to have these people design their own piece of fabric that later will be put together with other sections to create a quilt.
Once the project is finished, Catano said she hopes to display it in various venues throughout the area, such as the Capitol, to help raise awareness for homelessness, and then eventually donate it to a homeless person.
“(The recipient will) benefit not only from the fact that they’ll have warmth but also to know that there’s someone else out there that cares,” she said. “This is a way to let them know that somebody else loves them.”
Samantha Gorczewicz also recognizes the importance of reaching out to those in need.
The family community services senior began interning about 15-20 hours a week at Haven House, 121 Whitehills Drive, at the beginning of the semester and will continue to do so until May.
Her responsibilities at the home, which provides shelter and support to the homeless, include helping residents find housing and employment, doing home visits to past residents and supervising daily activities.
“There’s residents all over, and they have great stories,” she said. “I think that’s really important and has helped me develop — learning about all these families and what they’re going through.”
During her time as an intern, Gorczewicz said she has been able to bond with many of the residents she works with.
“It’s not just they’re in, they’re out, no big deal,” she said. “You do develop a relationship with them.”
Student support
Angela Mayeaux, executive director of Haven House, said volunteers play an important role in keeping the home maintained and running smoothly.
“The volunteers are really the heart of Haven House,” she said. “Our volunteers are always very dedicated and give us ideas of what’s working well and ways we can improve.”
In addition to employing an intern to help assist with daily tasks, Haven House also has various student groups visit the home weekly, such as MSU Circle K, a community service organization, and MSU’s Pediatric Interest Group, which is an organization that promotes issues of pediatric health.
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Zoology senior Gillian Reily, vice president of MSU Circle K, said although members of the organization volunteer their time at local soup kitchens and other shelters, most of their efforts are focused on Haven House, where they work weekly with children in the facility’s playroom.
Reily said by supervising the children, she is able to provide them a chance to take their minds off their stressful situation.
“It’s really cool to see how they can still come together and be normal kids for a couple hours while they’re playing games,” she said. “Allowing them to play like normal kids for a couple hours can erase that stress for a while.”
Beneficial results
Pam Kneeland, who resided at Haven House with her 11-year-old daughter and fiance for about a month last fall, said the student volunteers who visited made the family’s time in the home more pleasurable.
She said her daughter took advantage of the tutors who came in to help her with her homework, and the family also enjoyed having volunteers make them meals and interact with them.
“They treated us like someone that they knew from outside (the house), like we were friends of theirs for years,” she said. “To have someone come in and treat us like they knew us for years, it made it a better experience.”
Although Reily believes her involvement with the area’s homeless population is beneficial to those she connects with, she often feels she gets more out of her work than they do.
When working with the children at Haven House, Reily said she can see the difference she is making in their lives immediately, and that instant gratification is especially rewarding.
“It’s almost selfish,” she said. “It just feels so good to be helping someone. It’s indescribable how amazing it is, and to be given the opportunity as a college student to be able to make that kind of difference (is unique).”
