The people participating in the Good Works, Inc. Fourth Annual Walk for the Homeless had different reasons for trekking through cold winds and snow flurries Saturday morning.
Some came to raise money for Good Works, a faith-based organization providing shelter and other services to the homeless, and others wanted to raise awareness about the problems of poverty and homelessness in Athens County.
For Michael Hampton, the walk was personal.
Hampton said he has benefited from the material generosity and caring attitude of Good Works' staff and volunteers while living at The Timothy House, an emergency shelter operated by Good Works.
Participating in the walk is a way to spread a message of hope and to pass along the sense of compassion that the staff and volunteers exhibit each day, he said.
You show what they've done for you has worked
he said. It's really giving me a caring spot to help others.
Ohio University junior Jacob Taylor, a psychology major considering a career in social work, said he walked to help spread awareness of homelessness in Athens.
When things don't affect you you tend not to think about them let alone care about them
Taylor said. It's funny how that works out.
About 450 people participated in the walk, which was divided into four groups, each focusing on a specific concern facing people who have no residence of their own, said Keith Wasserman, founder and director of Good Works.
Good Works requested that registered walkers get sponsors ahead of time to donate to The Timothy House, which offers shelter to more than 210 people and provides about 17,000 meals annually. About two-thirds of the shelter's $180,000 operating budget comes from private donations.
Participants in the fundraiser wore signs around their necks that read I am a human being as they walked to different locations in the city - a fast-food restaurant, two churches and The Timothy House. Leaders at each location hosted discussions focusing on concerns facing the homeless and operators of homeless shelters.
Keith Andrews, executive director of the Athens Metropolitan Housing Authority, told one group of walkers that more than a quarter of the population in Athens County lives below the poverty line and that the county has had the highest poverty rate in Ohio for four consecutive years.
Although his office receives pleas for help on a daily basis, the demand for housing is so great that the AMHA waiting lists for housing vouchers are closed, he said.
According to census data from 2000, 27.4 percent of Athens County residents live below the poverty line. The county has an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, according to 2005 data from the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services.
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Kantele Franko
