Student leads at homeless
shelter
By Julie Glaser
Staff
Writer
Aaron Zeller isn't homeless, but he lives with
the homeless.
He also talks with them, eats with them, serves
them and helps make their lives better.
Zeller, a senior in the School of Science, is one
of many students who volunteer to help the area's needy people through
the Lafayette Urban Ministry Center.
The Lafayette Urban Ministry Center is an organization
of 45 local churches that help needy children and their families in
the Lafayette area.
The director of the center, Joe Micon, describes
it as "a social safety net for needy children and their families."
The center has more than 25 self-help programs for community members
and there are more than 2,000 volunteers involved in these programs.
One of the programs at the center is the emergency
homeless shelter. More than 40 percent of the volunteers for this program
are Purdue students.
"Working here gives me a great sense of personal
fulfillment, and I also learn a lot about myself and other people,"
said Zeller, who lives in an apartment at the center.
He receives a stipend for assuming a leadership
role in running the homeless shelter. Every night he prepares the shelter
for the arrival of that night’s guests. He also oversees the other
volunteers as they provide the guests with dinner, then he makes sure
everything goes smoothly throughout the night.
"Working here has had a great affect on my
attitude because most college students have had a fairytale upbringing
and don’t ever see what it is like to live on the other side of
that situation; to be homeless," said Zeller. "Working here
has opened my eyes and changed my reactions to other people — it
helps me to have more acceptance for all kinds of people.
"I feel like I’m helping society because
most people who are homeless don’t choose to be; some have health
problems or other things that put them into that situation and they
just need help."
The Lafayette Urban Ministry Center owes much of
its success to the dedication of people like Zeller.
Some of the other programs the center runs throughout
the year include the Greater Lafayette Hunger Hike — held this
past Sunday — to help feed hungry people in the area and the world.
There's also the Jubilee Christmas program, during which the center
helps needy children have a better Christmas by providing them with
gifts. Last year they helped more than 1,600 children and their families
have a better Christmas.
"It is a very day-to-day program," says
Micon. "There is someone here working 24 hours a day, seven days
a week."
• The center is located at 525 N. Fourth St.
in Lafayette.
|
