By Jennifer A. Cosgrove
Staff Writer
Low-income students and their advocates recently established Welfare Rights at EMU, a
new student organization that aims to educate and advocate for low-income students
and the community.
The group is new to EMU but is nationally based.
More than half of Eastern Michigan University students receive some kinds of financial
aid, said Karen Schaumann, faculty adviser to the group.
"Students are sometimes ashamed if they are homeless and in need of aid," Schaumann
said. "It makes it difficult to be a good student if you are just barely making it."
This organization's goal is to ensure the basic economic human rights of students and
others.
Homeless Awareness Week was Oct. 16-22. As part of the Economic Human Rights Campaign,
various activities took place throughout the week.
The campaign is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was created
with the help of Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948. This will be the third time that
Welfare Rights has participated in the Economic Human Rights campaign, according
to a press release from Welfare Rights at EMU. Sylvia Orduno, a doctoral student
in sociology from the University of Michigan, spoke to Schaumann's
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"Students are sometimes ashamed if they are homeless and in need of aid. It makes
it difficult to be a good student if you are just barely making it."
-Karen Schaumann,
Faculty Adviser for
Welfare Rights at EMU
social problems class about homelessness Thursday. Orduno is a member of the support
group "Friends of Welfare Rights."
Schaumann spoke at Cobo Hall in Detroit at a workshop about "Effective Strategies
to Ending Poverty" Thursday.
"It went really well," Schaumann said. "A wide range of people attended the workshop
including a lot of community organizations, members of the religious community, and
there was even corporate participation."
A "Walk Against Homelessness" march was in Detroit at 1 p.m. Saturday. Schaumann said
this was a success and had a lot of involvement.
Welfare Rights at EMU has an anonymous form students and the community can fill out
concerning homelessness. The purpose of the form is to gather experiences with
homelessness to make the point of how important the issue is. The
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anonymous forms can be picked up and turned in at the Student Organization Center
at McKenny Union. The forms will summarize the information and will be taken to
the World Summit to End Poverty and the United Nations in New York City, Nov. 12-18.
Forms should be turned in by Friday.
"There has been a really great response from the students and the community so far,"
Schaumann said.
Welfare Rights at EMU provides homeless prevention advocacy every Friday 1-3pm at the
Student Organization Center. At this time the "No Cost, Low Cost Survival Guide" is
available. This guide lists places that students can get housing, beds, furniture,
and other needed things.
Housing Urban Development (HUD) said a person should only pay about 30 percent of his
or her income to housing.
Schaumann said that out of a class of 100 students, almost half pay above 30 percent
of income toward housing.
"These students are at risk," Schaumann said. "It breaks my heart to lose students
simply because they can't afford to go to school."
Schaumann said she would like to see more affordable student housing.
"I am proud to be the faculty adviser for Welfare Rights at EMU," Schaumann said. "We
have some really strong students that I believe in."
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