ANSAN
2008
THE FILM STUDIO OF THE CHRISTIAN MARTINEZ PHOTOGRAPHY COMPANY
'90s O-LINEMAN TURNS'SUPERBAD'
Keith Loneker didn't make it in the NFL, but he had a lucky break when he landed a minor role in Hollywood. SPORTS | 1B
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
SKILL-SHARPENING ON GUARD'S AGENDA The 7-1 Jayhawks will play the 2-6 Westerwinds tonight in Allen Fieldhouse. SPORTS |1B
PRESS second
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 120 ISSUE 77
WITHOUT A HOME
Photos by Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Top: Nathan Ledford waits for donations of spare change in downtown Lawrence. Ledford, one of the city's several hundred homeless, was directed to Lawrence when he was discharged from the Fort Scott State Hospital, where he was being treated for bipolar disorder and marijuana abuse. Homeless outreach workers in Lawrence say it's common practice for other communities in the region to send their homeless to Lawrence because of the city's extensive resources for the homeless population.
Middle: Diane Elder, a case manager at the Lawrence Community Shelter, draws numbers for the nightly lottery that determines who will be allowed to sleep in the shelter overnight. Employees at the shelter, which can house up to 31 individuals each night, said they have had to turn people away every night since last spring.
Bottom: Jason Gluvera, a one-time resident at the Lawrence Community Shelter prepares a sandwich from the shelter's pantry in late October. The sign at the right, warning against giving the shelter's food to banned individuals, refers to persons who have violated the shelter's restriction on violent or abusive behavior on the grounds. Although the facility is an open shelter, meaning individuals are not required to be sober to sleep there, individuals can be permanently banned if they repeatedly exercise violence against staff or other people using the shelter.
As winter approaches, downtown Lawrence's sizeable homeless population must deal with crowded shelters,the possibility of stricter ordinances,and the loss of a hidden refuge near the Kansas River
BY RYAN MCGEENEY
rmcgeeney@kansan.com
Under the corrugated tin awning behind the homeless shelter, in the darkness illuminated only by the dim reflection of streetlights and porch lights, Donna and her sometimes-boyfriend, Delaney, wait to learn where they'll be sleeping tonight.
"I can't go back in those woods tonight," Donna says. "I just can't do it."
Huddled in a drab winter coat with a hood pulled tight around her head, Donna deeply inhales a cigarette and coughs the wet, bottomless cough of a chronic smoker and asthmatic.
Every night, the city's homeless who want to stay at the Lawrence Community Shelter have to arrive before 6 p.m. to add their names to the daily lottery. At about 6:30, 31 names are drawn and the rest are turned away. On this wet night, when the temperature will drop below 40 degrees, Delaney makes the list. Donna does not.
As Delaney and Donna discuss the relative merits of bringing a lawsuit against the shelter, Diane Elder, a shelter case manager, begins making her rounds. Everyone knows Diane drew the lottery numbers tonight, and their demeanor toward her seems largely based on their individual fates.
The physically ill. The mentally ill. Disabilities of every flavor. Those with a job. Those with two jobs. The newly sober. The recently paroled.
"Every individual population thinks they should take priority," Elder says, "It's exhausting."
"I could fill the shelter with any of those groups alone." Elder says.
The tension surrounding the lottery dissipates for some when their names are called — they'll have a hot meal in a few hours and warm shelter through the next morning. Others must proceed to "plan B," and Donna is growing increasingly anxious.
Delaney offers Donna his spot, but it isn't necessary. Someone who made it onto the list doesn't return to the shelter.
Shaking her head, speaking as though there's still some chance she might have
to tend for herself after all, Donna declares again: "I'm not going into those woods. I can't."
While Donna's fate is decided as darkness falls, hundreds of other homeless in Lawrence face a similar dilemma about where to sleep.
These are the stories of the homeless who try to survive in the shelters.
beneath the bridges and beyond the woods.
Among them are a KU student scrambling to recover from the sudden loss of a job and the apartment it once paid for; the weather-beaten husband and wife who spend their days in the limbo of an ongoing disability claim; the recovering drug addict who insists he must stay penniless just to remain sober; and the man who's spent his life riding the rails, convinced his life is wrong, but unable to live it any other way.
"Every individual population thinks they should take priority. It's exhausting."
"The woods," shorthand for the nature preserve along the banks of the Kansas River near the Amtrak station at Seventh and New York streets, is one of a few options for Lawrence's homeless who do not find — and sometimes do not seek — shelter in one of the city's emergency facilities. The land, declared a restoration preserve by the City Commission, is covered with a thick canopy of trees, impervious to
DIANE ELDER Lawrence Community Shelter
aerial photography. The area has always been a magnet for the homeless.
But when Lawrence police were dispatched to the woods in October to collect the bodies of Bronson Stanley.18, of Oklahoma, and Corey O'Connor.
29. of Indiana, who were found dead in a tent, what they found was no longer a campground. They found what could be described only as a growing River City.
Using scrap lumber, homeless residents of the encampment had constructed two semi-permanent structures. According to authorities, the 12-by-20-foot buildings had insulation and battery-powered lights.
SEE HOMELESS ON PAGE 6A
TECHNOLOGY
Freshman creates online cartoon show
of Luke and Joe," an online cartoon he originally designed with the computer game "The Movies"
Video games aren't just for leisure time with a movie creation style called "Machininima." Matt Baier, Topeka freshman, co-created "The Adventures
FULL STORY PAGE 3A
Hemenway leaves mark on University athletics
ADMINISTRATION
Chancellor Robert Hemenway, an avid sports fan, played a large role in the recent success of the Athletics program. Hemenway, who is stepping down on June 30, hired the current athletics director, Lew Perkins, and has helped the school allocate more than $100 million towards athletic facilities.
index
FULL STORY PAGE 3A
Leaf project meant to brighten spirits
Classifieds...4B
Crossword...4A
Horoscopes...4A
An Ottawa senior distributed piles of painted leaves on lawns along Jayhawk Boulevard this morning. The leaves are part of a public art project intended to cheer up students during finals week.
ART
FULL STORY PAGE 8A
Opinion...5A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2008 The University Daily Kansan
UNION APPEALS FOR BURRESS
Players association challenges fine suspension after shooting. NFL | 8B
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