Homeless For The Holidays

Final Report
By: Kaitlyn Rich and Ursula Fox-Koor

The homeless in Tompkins county will be having presents delivered to their houses in the next few days, except they will not be delivered by a man with a sleigh and red suit. Instead it will be a Red Cross worker, driving a white Jeep Cherokee.

His name is Aloja Airwewle, and along with other Tompkins County Red Cross workers and volunteers he helps to make the holiday season a little brighter for many Ithaca residents.

While the fanfare of the usual gift giving process is absent, the Christmas message is still the same – to spread holiday cheer to all, even those without a chimney for him to slide down.

Airwewele is the head of case management at the Tompkins County America Red Cross. He oversees the induction of the people into the program as well as other tasks such as delivering gifts to those in need during the holiday season and making sure the homeless are not forgotten about during this time of year.

“It’s not the busiest time of the year, but it’s the hardest on our clients. They begin to remember why they are homeless and how they have no one else,” says Airwewele.

The U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates calculated 13.5 percent of Tompkins County lived below the poverty line in 2004, compared to 12.7 percent nationally and 14.5 percent in New York State.

Coupled with the fact that according to the Tompkins County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment for 2006, 500 households spend half their income on housing. Both of these factors have left many out in the cold this winter.

With the failing economy and hard times falling on many, this Christmas is especially hard. “With the economic downsizing right now it’s easy to make me homeless. Just take my two paychecks away, that’s all it takes,” said Tompkins County Red Cross Emergency Shelter worker Khin Hewe.

Homeless Services is the American Red Cross’s largest program and includes the emergency shelter, the Friendship Center, case management services, and the food pantry.

The hardships of others this year have placed many pressures on the Red Cross, especially on its food pantry. The pantry, according to the United Way of Tompkins County has recently seen the number of people seeking food double.

While the Red Cross does a lot to make the holidays easier for the homeless, Hewe also notes the importance of helping all year round, not just during Christmas time. “It’s one thing, you know, we remember the poor around Thanksgiving, Christmas time, but the rest of the year it’s not really our business, you know, we pay taxes and the welfare system’s gonna take care of it,” Hewe says. This is something, he believes, must change.

But just because these people do not have a home does not mean that they cannot celebrate the season. At shelters such as the Red Cross’s Emergency Shelter, Hewe and others still do everything they can to bring some holiday cheer.

“It’s more like a house, we joke around, it’s not like the city where you go to Chicago, NY, Denver and you see people sleeping on the corner or smelly and people run away; it’s right here. Just like you and me, there is something about the small community in Ithaca,” said Hewe.