Chilled at Tent City

Fellow VISTAs Gabrielle, Andrea and I spent a chilly day in downtown Toledo today at the 20th annual Tent City, a weekend-long homeless advocacy event organized by 1matters.org under tents set up on the Civic Center Mall adjacent to all the government buildings.

A former homeless man cum stand-up comic, executive and passionate advocate was inspired to found 1matters two years ago after singer John Mellencamp visited Tent City before a concert and gave away 60 tickets to the unhoused.

One of the concertgoers came back, expressing surprise that Mellencamp talked to him from the stage and that he actually mattered. 1matters is dedicated to making everyone know that they matter.

(The group prefers the word unhoused to homeless because it is freer of preconceived notions and allows people to focus on the fact that these are people without homes. The unhoused are referred to as "guests" throughout the event.)

I didn't go, but Friday, the opening day, was full of food and music late into the night. On Saturday, the event got down to business.

Project Homeless Connect was a day-long event working to connect the unhoused with medical and dental service, flu shots, haircuts, IDs, birth certificates, winter clothing, assistance with public aid applications and more.

Gabrielle and I agreed the event was one of the more successful, productive and inspiring the Benefit Bank has attended recently. We arrived with an arsenal of three laptops and two mini printers and, working nonstop for almost 7 hours with barely time to scarf down a hotdog, were able to complete about 20 applications on site for food stamps, heating assistance and medicaid for disability.

Our table was under one of the big, white event tents, but the heaters didn't stretch all the way to our corner and the wind kept blowing up the tent sides, letting chilly air in and making the whole structure creak like the beams of a storm-tossed ship, so we were bundled up the whole time, shivering by the end with a combination of cold, hunger and braindeadness.

All in all, a day well-spent :)