UMobile students fight homelessness through Cardboard City event

By Amber Collinsworth

University of Mobile (U­Mobile) students Johnny Howard Jr. and Luke Easley worked together in the dark, duct-taping eight cardboard boxes to form a shelter in the middle of a dew-covered field.

Nearby other UMobile students gathered around flame-filled barrels, keeping warm and visiting with one another as the temperatures dipped into the 30s. The lights from a truck illuminated the area as students laughed about their attempts to keep their boxes upright on the damp ground.

For Howard and Easley, who won first place in a contest for the best cardboard home, this event was a rewarding experience which incorporated good times and a great purpose.

“I learned to appreciate (the issue of) homelessness a lot more,” Howard said. “People that experience this in real life … don’t have a place to run to when it gets too cold.

“This started out as just a fun thing to do and not anything serious but turned out to be an experience that has changed my outlook on a lot of different things,” he said.

The contest was part of UMobile students’ efforts to raise funds and bring relief to the nation of Haiti after a massive earthquake took the lives of an estimated 200,000 people.

UMobile’s event, known as Cardboard City, took place from 9 p.m. Feb. 19 until 6 a.m. Feb. 20. To raise awareness about homelessness in Haiti and around the world, approximately 45 students created seven cardboard homes and asked individuals and businesses to sponsor their overnight stay in these homes.

The event raised almost $500, half of which went to Compassion International’s relief efforts in Haiti and half of which went to 15 Place, a project of Loaves and Fish Community Ministries Inc., which fight homelessness in Mobile.

For one UMobile student, the problem of homelessness locally and around the world hit close to home.

Jamie Merilien, a junior worship leadership major originally from Haiti, told students of the heart-wrenching difficulty of finding out that his hometown had been destroyed and of the agony of having to wait several days to find out that his family and friends in Haiti were still alive.

Merilien spoke to the students about what they can do to get involved.

“Pray that God would restore Haiti back to its feet, and make every effort to donate to Haiti relief,” Merilien said. “Every little bit helps.”

As Howard listened, he began to see the spiritual application of the event.

“I think that God put me through this so I would learn to appreciate the things I have and not to worry about the small things that happen in life,” he said. “God also showed me that there are many more people in this world that have more problems in their lives.”