CNN Features Homeless Students
Five students from St. Edward's swapped their spring
break vacation for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
right here in Austin. On Sunday, March 21, participants
Paul Hagey, '02, MLA '04, and Kacey McCoig,
'06, shared their homeless experience during an
interview aired live on CNN.
Click
here to watch the video.
One of several service-based Alternative Spring Break
programs sponsored by Campus Ministry, Urban Plunge
immersed students into homelessness. For five days
and four nights, the students spent time on the streets,
eating meals in shelters and sleeping in a downtown
church. Each participant was allowed only $5 per day
and could bring only what would fit in a backpack.
"The purpose of Alternative Spring Break is
to allow students to put a personal face on people
who are poor, struggling and possibly homeless,"
said Anna Aldave, associate director of Campus Ministry.
"We wanted students to get to know the poor as
people and friends, not as social problems to be solved."
The Urban Plunge caught the attention of almost every
media outlet in Austin, with stories appearing in
the Austin American-Statesman, News
8 Austin, KVUE-ABC, KXAN-NBC, KEYE-CBS, FOX-7,
KLBJ-AM and KGSR-FM.
In addition to the Urban Plunge, other groups of
students were dispatched to New York City, Perryville,
Ark., Colorado Springs, Colo., and Monterrey, Mexico,
where they volunteered at various facilities operated
by the Congregation of Holy Cross.
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