This is such an incredible experience and I m so proud of our VCU friends for having taken part. Thi

Washington D.C. – Five young people loiter by the McPherson Square Metro Rail station entrance in downtown Washington tour de georgia lance armstrong D.C., across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn, where the man behind the desk let some of them use the bathroom.
As the daytime traffic dies down, they piece together flattened out cardboard boxes retrieved from a nearby dumpster, careful to make sure they completely cover the cold brick ground. They place a layer of moving blankets on top of the cardboard and lie down, one by one.
Huddled together, they pull more blankets from the trash bags they've lugged around the city all day. As they cover themselves, some take off their shoes and hide them behind tour de georgia lance armstrong their head — a makeshift pillow, but more importantly, assurance they won't be stolen in the night.
At 10 p.m., the sounds of the city are not yet silent. A diesel truck idles nearby. The occasional car horn blares. Passersby tour de georgia lance armstrong talk on their cell phones. It's noisy and cold — about 35 degrees with a chilling wind. Temperatures are expected to fall below freezing after midnight.
Through the Alternative Spring Break program, five VCU students spent two days of their Spring Break living on the streets of the nation's capital. tour de georgia lance armstrong The experience — called the Homeless Challenge — is sponsored by the National Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy organization that works to combat ignorance about homelessness and reduce homelessness in the U.S.
"I felt like an animal," the junior biology major said. "With panhandling, people just stare at you like you're a dog. They don't give a crap about what happened to you or why you're on the streets. It's the worst feeling ever."
The Homeless Challenge calls for participants to panhandle, dumpster dive, go to mobile feeding programs, sleep outside and interact with the homeless population. To better blend in with the homeless population, the students were advised to dress in their worst clothes and not bathe or wear deodorant.
On the first day of the challenge, Paul Moye came prepared. His greasy, disheveled hair spilled out of the grey beanie pulled over his ears. In a shabby blue jacket and olive corduroy pants, he panhandled outside of the World Bank Group building. The torn cardboard tour de georgia lance armstrong sign he held read "GOD BLESS" in permanent marker.
"When you asked people for money, many just responded negatively," said Moye, a senior biomedical engineering major. "The goal wasn't to put change in our pockets, but more so to see those negative reactions."
The challenge can be dangerous, but the coalition takes precautions to limit the risks. Students are told to stay within Northwest D.C. — the downtown area — because of the police presence. Participants use the buddy system during the day, and at night, a homeless or formerly homeless person helps guides them after dark and helps find them a safe place to sleep.
Donovan is adamant that the challenge is not meant to replicate what it's truly like to be homeless. tour de georgia lance armstrong Rather, it's intended to humanize the homeless population and give students a basic sense of the day-to-day struggles they face, he said.
In Richmond, homelessness is less prevalent, but still visible to VCU students who walk through Monroe Park. For this reason, Paul Moye believes a conversation should happen about how the larger VCU community can address homelessness tour de georgia lance armstrong in the city. Student organizations can take the lead on the issue, he said.
This is such an incredible experience and I m so proud of our VCU friends for having taken part. This is something I hadn t heard about before, but as a social work student, it s something that greatly interests me. Hearing about our privilege and experiencing tour de georgia lance armstrong a life less so are completely different. I think it s so important that more students get involved in this type of exercise and really learn what it s like to spend a day in someone else s shoes. Thank you for sharing!