City of cardboard

WASILLA — A year ago, “Susan” lived outside at Wonderland Park with her 2-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son. At one point, all three slept in her car.

Frightened, Susan had left her abusive husband and attempted to take her kids to a safe situation, except she had no family or friends to turn to. There was no safe place she knew of. Her family didn’t care much for her leaving a marriage they thought was stable.

Broken and with nowhere to go, Susan and her children were homeless, living on the streets and finding food where they could. Her options were depleted and her pockets empty.

“I think people tend to see the homeless as uneducated and irresponsible,” Susan said. “That’s just not my story. I had two degrees and no desire to be irresponsible. We had no options left.”

Susan turned for help to Family Promise Mat-Su, a local interfaith homelessness nonprofit organization that works solely with homeless families in the Valley to try to better their lives. Case managers put Susan and her kids up at local churches at night and fed them proper meals. They then talked her into applying for state aid and helped her find work and get her back into school.

Today, Susan and her family live in Palmer, in a house. She works as a massage therapist and takes her healthy kids to day care each day.

“It all started with Family Promise,” Susan said. “They found me the resources I needed to get off the street and back into life.”

At the Alaska State Fairgrounds Friday evening, more than 70 participants had an opportunity to hear Susan’s story and experience life as a homeless person themselves. The group committed to sleep in cardboard boxes overnight, eat from a soup kitchen line and learn facts about the homeless in Alaska. They came to live as the homeless do — for 15 hours.

The event was Cardboard City, hosted by Family Promise Mat-Su, an effort to raise awareness about homelessness in the Valley.

No electronics, including cell phones and laptops, alcohol, drugs or additional food were allowed into Cardboard City, unless they were to be donated.

Many of the participants came to find out what it is like to have no home to go to, depending on the weather and limited resources. Those who attended raised funds through pledges and other donations to help support Family Promise Mat-Su’s mission in the Valley.

Sarah Klitzke, outreach coordinator for the organization, said she hoped the event would leave an impression on those involved. She hopes they left the exercise with a sense of what homeless families encounter each day.

“One of the big misconceptions we want to eliminate is that homelessness is just people living in cars or on the street,” Klitzke said. “These are families living from couch to couch, or staying under temporary roofs.”

By 7 p.m. and two hours into the event, the Palmer wind had picked up, blowing cardboard and paper cups throughout the green entrance of the Fairgrounds. Boxes, flattened before arrival, began to be carefully assembled, with many participants unsure of how the flimsy paper shelters were going to withstand the chilly gusts. Homes made from quarter-inch-thick cardboard.

Spray paint cans, duct tape rolls and glitter tubes were distributed for renovations, while a group of cheerful teens hung signs on fences around the vicinity. The signs professed shocking truths about homelessness.

For many, the experience of a friendly camp-out was out of their element and fun, but not the homeless situation itself. Many agreed families together on the streets are better than having no family at all.

Then, the chill set in.

“Since the homeless don’t have a choice, this event will be held regardless of weather conditions,” Klitzke said.

A hot coffee and cocoa table was set up near the entrance to the heated bathroom stalls, a reminder that these perks a few and far between in the real world.

Klitzke said there is an estimated 14,000 homeless people in Alaska, 28 percent of those part of a homeless family.

As of May, volunteers from Family Promise Mat-Su care for and assist 14 people in the Mat-Su Valley.

Klitzke said the agency raises roughly $100,000 a year through grants and donations to support the homeless. All efforts are done through volunteering with one person on the payroll.

Homeless families rotate on a weekly basis through seven local churches, which provide them with temporary housing and meals. The agency then assists with rehabilitation options, including finding them job opportunities, day care, government assistance and other methods to become more independent and self supporting.

“When you work with these families you realize how easy it is to end up in a bad position,” Klitzke said. “It makes you appreciate what you do have.”

At 8:30 p.m., Rick Dalmolin from the Wasilla Senior Center delivered hot chili and potato soup, along with bread and hot beverages.

Pat Hogan, board president for Family Promise Mat-Su, said she doesn’t think Cardboard City is an event that mocks or pokes fun at homelessness.

“I don’t see it that way,” she said. “We’re not making light of homelessness, but we do want to have an event that raises awareness by having fun and bringing people together to fight a common cause.”

Terri Fischer and her mother, Shirley Novak, live in Sutton but commute each week to attend services at First Presbyterian Church of Wasilla.

“My mom gets me into the weirdest things,” Fischer said while adding the last bits of duct tape to their temporary home. “But this is great and for a good cause. Makes you feel fortunate.”

During the week, Novak prepares meals for the homeless at her church. Her experience shows in her personal life as well. Her son is also homeless.

“It’s his choice right now to be homeless,” Novak said, adding more to her box home. “Let’s just say this is something I wanted to do.”

Novak and Fischer both admit they weren’t exactly roughing it for the evening.

Inside their boxed shelter, sleeping bags with blankets were strewn from wall to wall, complete with foam mats, backpacks of extra clothes and foldable lawn chairs. For a minute, both felt somewhat guilty.

“I don’t want it to look like we’re making fun of the homeless by having this event,” Fischer said. “We are understanding the idea that even getting a drink of water, going to the bathroom and eating are all big chores of the day for some homeless. This makes me see it close up on a small level.”

Daulton Morock and his daughters Brietta and Chloe laugh and carry on while strapping duct tape to their project. For them, the wind will pose a challenge, but for a family of three, the more hands the better.

“It’s pretty sobering,” Morock said. “Just the dynamics of keeping kids clean on the streets is an eye-opener for me.”

At 1 a.m., the rain came, forcing some into the heated bathroom stalls for the rest of the night. Klitzke said it was just another example of what the homeless endure each day.

On Saturday morning, after everyone had packed and gone to the comforts of their real homes, the effectiveness of Cardboard City came to light. More than $6,600 was raised for homeless families at the event.

“I think it was such a memorable experience. People walked away with a better awareness that people do struggle out there and that they don’t have to struggle anymore.” Klitzke said.

To find out more about Family Promise Mat-Su, visit Familypromisematsu.org.

Contact J.J. Harrier at valleylife@frontiersman.com, or 352-2269.