RSA and MOVED host fourth annual shantytown demonstration at U of L

By Cameron Tillett

On Thursday, Nov. 4, members of the Resident Student Association and Motivated Outstanding Volunteers Emulating Diversity, also known as MOVED, set up a shantytown on the University of Louisville Belknap Campus. The goal was to promote homelessness awareness.  Members of these organizations and student volunteers worked to simulate what it would be like to live in a shantytown environment. This was the fourth year for the shantytown at U of L.

Volunteers from each dorm on campus contributed to the town by collecting cardboard and other materials to assemble makeshift homes. Some structures were short and squat, meant only for sleeping, while some, like the cardboard castle that came from Miller Hall, towered over the others.

In addition to the display, members of RSA and MOVED handed out flyers with facts about homelessness, centering around the issues facing women and teenagers living on the streets. The flyers also outlined possible solutions to the issue of homelessness, including transitional houses, pedestrian villages and shelters.

The shantytown provided a visual reminder for U of L students, demonstrating in a unique way that not everyone is fortunate enough to have a house to call home.

               

                                 -Cameron Tillett