This week, Eastern University’s YACHT (Youth Against Complacency and Homelessness Today) Club will be celebrating its annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This awareness campaign is held by charities across the country. YACHT will be hosting its own from November 15-19.
Through HAHA, YACHT Club seeks to bring awareness to justice issues, especially homelessness.
“There are countless situations in which people become homeless,” said sophomore Angel Mendoza, one of YACHT’s leaders.
The club’s aim is to break down stereotypes of homelessness and to help others to see that this is a very real problem.
“YACHT works as the conscience of Eastern University in order to remind it of the depravity that comes from living in a fallen world, and of our responsibilities as disciples of Christ to continue to embody God’s Kingdom,” YACHT leader Lisa Weaver said.
Every Thursday night, club members head into Center City Philadelphia armed with sandwiches. They spend Saturdays taking time to get to know the homeless.
According to first-year Oksana Griffith, “we pray with them, and we just try to make friends.”
Whereas many people pass by the homeless on the streets every day without ever acknowledging their presence, YACHT seeks to restore their humanity through relationships. The club also gathers every other Tuesday night in Eastern’s Commuter Lounge for “family meetings,” creating a sense of community within the group.
During this year’s HAHA Week, YACHT will be holding events that will bring homelessness in the nation to light.
On Tuesday, November 15, the club led a procession around Eastern with Watchmen Prayer, stopping throughout campus to give litanies and say prayers.
On Wednesday, November 16, YACHT will be leading chapel and asking for donations of winter clothes that they will pass out in Center City.
“We understand that a lot of students only have clothes on campus that they wear on a regular basis, but we know that they’ll be going home for Thanksgiving break, so we’ll be encouraging them to bring any winter clothes back that they don’t need,” sophomore Angel Mendoza said.
On the night of Thursday, November 17, students and faculty will have the opportunity to sleep outside of Walton.
“The point is to simulate homelessness,” Mendoza said.
On Saturday, the festivities will conclude in Love Park, where YACHT congregates every weekend. Students and faculty will be asked participate in a Music and Arts Festival and are encouraged to bring musical instruments and art supplies with them into Philadelphia.
All students and faculty are encouraged to come out and show their support for this week’s events. Feel free to e-mail yacht.eastern@gmail.com with any questions you may have about the club or the week’s events. If you are interested in becoming a part of the YACHT family, contact Lisa Weaver or come to any Thursday meeting, held in the Jammin’ Java at 6:45 PM.