Skinny Santas
Donation protected
We were voluntarily homeless for 48 hours to learn about ourselves and our bias against the homeless.
My name is Joshua. My teammate Bobby and I had a hell of a time on the streets for 48 hours. We walked over 35 miles in that time, were able to panhandle $2.25 TOTAL, got almost no sleep, and our nutrition was almost non-existent. These seemingly rough times lead to a powerful switch in perspective that I wrote about.
Our campaign is called skinny Santas because we want to raise enough money to get the people in the homeless camps warm gear for the upcoming winter, food gift certificates, shoes and a plethora of other things. The biggest being I want them to feel like they exist, not like a lost piece of society.
Below is the beginning few paragraphs of my perspective going through the event.
***If you make a minimum donation of $2. I will send you a link to the whole story in a thank you note.
Anxiety is often the worst part of challenging times. As the hours approached and I asked friends for advice it finally dawned on me, I felt anxiety as I realized how dumb it was to voluntarily go homeless for 48 hours.
To be clear, it is not dumb to be homeless and Bobby and I are not dumb people for the most part. What is dumb is we were stepping into a world that has different rules and I didn’t know them. I came from a lower-to middle class family, and had financial help from my grandparents when times got rougher. I went to private schools and frankly have been blessed my entire life. I am smart, physically capable, and have a lot of life experiences however homelessness was never one of them.
As we walked down KK in BayView I honestly wanted to turn back. We had been outside for an hour and I didn’t want to start pan handling for money. My Ego still had a strong grip on me. What if somebody I knew saw me? What would they think? One hour in and I realized the importance of doing this. Through a good life I had become egotistical and soft. I need “Scary” things like this to shift my perspective and forge me as a person.
My name is Joshua. My teammate Bobby and I had a hell of a time on the streets for 48 hours. We walked over 35 miles in that time, were able to panhandle $2.25 TOTAL, got almost no sleep, and our nutrition was almost non-existent. These seemingly rough times lead to a powerful switch in perspective that I wrote about.
Our campaign is called skinny Santas because we want to raise enough money to get the people in the homeless camps warm gear for the upcoming winter, food gift certificates, shoes and a plethora of other things. The biggest being I want them to feel like they exist, not like a lost piece of society.
Below is the beginning few paragraphs of my perspective going through the event.
***If you make a minimum donation of $2. I will send you a link to the whole story in a thank you note.
Anxiety is often the worst part of challenging times. As the hours approached and I asked friends for advice it finally dawned on me, I felt anxiety as I realized how dumb it was to voluntarily go homeless for 48 hours.
To be clear, it is not dumb to be homeless and Bobby and I are not dumb people for the most part. What is dumb is we were stepping into a world that has different rules and I didn’t know them. I came from a lower-to middle class family, and had financial help from my grandparents when times got rougher. I went to private schools and frankly have been blessed my entire life. I am smart, physically capable, and have a lot of life experiences however homelessness was never one of them.
As we walked down KK in BayView I honestly wanted to turn back. We had been outside for an hour and I didn’t want to start pan handling for money. My Ego still had a strong grip on me. What if somebody I knew saw me? What would they think? One hour in and I realized the importance of doing this. Through a good life I had become egotistical and soft. I need “Scary” things like this to shift my perspective and forge me as a person.
Fundraising team: 48 hours (2)
Joshua Janis
Organizer
Saint Francis, WI
Robert Hennes
Team member