Kalamazoo's Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week in Review

The week before Thanksgiving, a partnership of over 20 organizations led by the Poverty Reduction Initiative and the Affordable Housing Partnership presented Kalamazoo's Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week to bring light to these issues before the Holiday.

Though Kalamazoo had hosted the week in the past, this year was significant because of the scale of the amount of events and partners involved. In fact, it received praise from the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness Director Jason Weller as one of the most ambitious plans in the state of Michigan.

So what can we take from this week that will help us in coordinating events such as this in the future? I want to look into a few of the particular areas where the week succeeded, as well as others where it could improve upon in future.

Scale of Events
Pro's
One of the greatest successes of the week was the number and variety of events that were coordinated throughout Kalamazoo. The week boasted tours of multiple shelters, a poverty simulation, a candlelight vigil and a film fundraising event. It gave residents a variety of events to participate in and become engaged. Events such as the poverty simulation, candlelight vigil and film boasted strong attendance and proved a worth while experience.

Con's
From what I've been hearing, many shelter tours saw poor and/or limited attendance during their time slot. Was this a lack of awareness on part of the organizations or simply a lack of interest in the public? It probably depends upon the event. Each organization was responsible for promoted their own event, and several may have simply not grasped that point.

In addition, there was a disconnect with events hosted by the Habitat For Humanity Student Group at Western Michigan University. Instead of having a synergy with this group and incorporating them to the week, they planned their own events without any communication to other organizations participating. This can probably be attributed to a lack of awareness of both PRI/AHP and the student group.

Media Coverage
Pro's
The press conference attracted several strong media outlets, including reporters from Channel 8, WKZO and WMUK who composed stories on the event. Channel 3 also also aired a story leading up to the week. The Kalamazoo Gazette promoted specific items in its events section.

Con's
As a whole, the media failed a presenting the week as a whole. The Kalamazoo Gazette chose to cover regurgitated stories on the arena plans rather than to do an article highlighting the week. They did have a reporter continue a story on the poverty simulation, but it would have been effective to have had a story on the entire week. The Media did not show up to specific events during the week.

Fundriasing
Pro's
The film "Where God Left His Shoes" raised a net amount of close to $2000 that will be split between the Poverty Reduction Initiative and Affordable Housing Partnership. The Poverty Simulation also attracted close to 40 participant of who each paid a donation fee. We do not have the numbers for the canned drive or any other donation appeals.

Summary
For being the first time that our community hosted such a large scale awareness week, I would say that there is much to be proud of. The number of events, organizations and volunteers that participated showed high potential of what a community can do when motivated. It was a strong start of which we can improve upon next November. If anything, it rallied a core group of citizens who cared about these issues in Kalamazoo and gave potential for expansion in the future.

Thank you to all the organizations and individuals who participated. We look forward to our continued work in raising awareness in the future.