Rabbit can’t read. He sees things and hears voices. At 17 years old, his abusive mother kicked him out of the house when she learned he had been raped. After cutting himself in the bathroom and trying to set a chemistry lab on fire, Rabbit was expelled from high school and committed to a nursing home, where he lived more than eight years. Rabbit was homeless. But today, he works with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, raising awareness through his story.
“When I was homeless, mostly I just wanted someone to talk to,” Rabbit said. “I’m always looking for love, from somebody or my momma.”
Rabbit and Charles Jenkins, another former homeless person, spoke to about 30 students at the University Christian Ministry at the Faces of Homelessness PanelThursday at 7 p.m. The program was held by the CCH, the University Christian Ministry, Living Wage Campaign, In Technicolor and Interfaith Youth Core’s Better Together Campaign.
“The purpose is definitely for Northwestern students to develop an intimacy with homelessness issues that they didn’t have before,” said Kelsey Sheridan, an Interfaith fellow and Medill and Weinberg junior. “I think it helps Northwestern students understand the world outside of this corner of Evanston in a really good way.”
Jenkins, a married father of seven, spoke about his childhood on the west side of Chicago in the 1960s. As a kid, he was a regular user of pot, cocaine, acid and anything else he could find, he said. He dropped out of school to secure a job but became sidetracked by his addiction.
“It happened gradually,” Jenkins said. “In my zeal to get high and peace and be a crappy worker, I went from job to job. Pretty soon it came down to do I pay my bills, get high or eat?”
Jenkins said he moved from shelter to shelter before meeting a CCH representative at a warming center in the winter of 1990. After learning of CCH’s mission to ensure that apartment buildings adequately allocate space for affordable housing, Jenkins said he started attending meetings and rallies.
“It jarred something socially inside me because I was always raised to help out,” said Jenkins, who went to rehabilitation, earned a college degree and certificate in child development and still works with CCH. “It was a breath of new life for me.”
Jenkins may be off the streets, but Rabbit said he worries about being evicted from his apartment. His mother has not accepted that he is gay, and he still contemplates suicide, he said.
“Life is crazy,” Rabbit. “I’m trying to do good things, but it feels like I’m taking one step forward and two back.”
Communication freshman Graham Duff, who attended the event, said Rabbit’s struggle touched him.
“Hearing Rabbit’s stories about being an LGBT youth, that’s something I’ve never really considered as a really important aspect of homelessness,” Duff said.
After Rabbit and Jenkins spoke, Jaime Schmitz, a CCH community organizing intern, explained the group’s support of a state tax increase to better fund the homeless shelters. CCH has conducted a letter-writing campaign to State Senator Jeff Schoenberg, and the senator recently announced his endorsement of the increase, Schmitz said.
Weinberg freshman Lauren Dennis said she is concerned about Illinois’ budget crisis and its effect on shelters.
“Both speakers talked multiple times about how different organizations have come in and helped them, whether it be providing them a place to stay or giving them a blanket,” Dennis said. “But a lot of these organizations are having their budgets cut and they don’t have enough funding.”
Jenkins said his purpose is to motivate students to fight homelessness.
“If you think politicians are bad, change that,” he said. “Become one. It pays good, plus you have the opportunity to make a difference.
“You really are the future. I trust you, and I challenge you.”
