Loyola students returned to Lafayette Square last Sunday despite recent protests by the surrounding community.
The Loyola University Community Action Program’s Hunger Relief Program feeds and converses with the homeless of the area. This past Sunday they intended to do the same.
In recent weeks Central Business District resident Kevin Kelly, B’77 has blamed the program for an infestation of rodents in the area and accused them of inviting drunks into the neighborhood who urinate, defecate and vomit on the premises.
“The students have been fed a pile of garbage concerning the homeless situation,” said Kelly. “It’s a shame that it appears that it is coming from the staff at Loyola. I believe they are doing harm to the homeless by enabling them to use their money for alcohol and drugs.”
Shortly after students entered the square last Sunday, Kelly and a handful of other residents met them.
Students were in the midst of serving the homeless and “the situation became quite hectic,” said program leader Mary Burckell, Catholic studies sophomore.
Kelly had agreed earlier to observe the program if students would follow him on a walking tour of the area.
“They were almost physically blocking us from doing it, ” said Allison Drevich, sociology senior and president of LUCAP, referring to serving food.
According to Burckell and Drevich, residents wanted to have discussions while students were serving the homeless.
“They just wanted to argue,” said Burckell.
On Oct. 2, Drevich and Burckell met with Lederick Blackburn, Interim Executive Director of the Downtown Development District.
The Downtown Development District is trying to increase economic development in the area.
Blackburn questioned what students were doing at the square and voiced concern over what their intentions could to do development.
“We picked this area because there is so much poverty,” said Burckell.
“A compromise would be to come in the neighborhood and do something to truly help the homeless,” said Kelly.
Students eventually did walk with Kelly down Camp Street to the Ozanam Inn, a homeless shelter in the neighborhood that has been there for 50 years.
“At each point of the tour, as we were getting to the students, we were interrupted by the priest and sister (Fr. Eddie Gros, dean of University Ministry and Sr. Leyla Cerda, LUCAP advisor) as to the lack of time and how we shouldn’t block the sidewalks,” said Kelly.
There is a yard next to the inn where the homeless are allowed to sit during the day.
According to Drevich and Burckell, Kelly told students to turn around and look at how pathetic the homeless are.
“We didn’t do it because they are not circus animals,” said Burckell.The Ozanam Inn eventually asked them to leave because of the disturbance they were creating.
“Basically the morning was LUCAP being verbally abused,” said Drevich. According to Drevich, students will only be speaking to residents through their attorney Bill Quigley, of the Loyola Poverty Law Center.
One criticism of the program is that LUCAP’s services aren’t needed in the area.
To address this LUCAP began surveying the homeless last Sunday and will continue to do so this Sunday.
“It’s like a zoo here,” said Kelly. “The zoo feeds the animals themselves. They don’t need additional people feeding them.”
But Kelly doesn’t believe that even the Ozaman Inn fully addresses the homeless problem. He says he believes that the Ozanam Inn is just “a big billboard.”
Both last weekend and this weekend homeless people were surveyed to find out if their needs could be better served.
“We decided that the main purpose of what we’re doing is to serve the homeless,” said Burckell.
So far responses to the survey have been mixed.
“One of the Jesuit ideals is call practice. You take action and then change the action to be more effective. It’s sad that this had to happen for our volunteers to see what it’s like to be homeless in New Orleans.”
Students will return to Lafayette Park this Sunday.
After that it depends on the results of the survey and whether the safety of volunteers can be maintained, according to Drevich and Burckell.
Alexis Yankowski, Catholic studies senior, packs up bag lunches in the Underground preparing to head to Lafayette Square with LUCAP’s Hunger Relief program. (Gillian Dicker)
