As spring break quickly approaches, many students will be packing their bags filled with swimsuits, shorts and sandals as they head to warm, sunny states to catch some rays.
However, as the Creighton community disperses away from the bitter cold, many individuals in the Omaha area will continue braving the chilly weather. Each day, homeless individuals wait for the Siena/Francis House to open their doors to the public so they have a warm place to stay for the evening.
The Siena/Francis House is located just a few blocks away from Creighton’s campus, and is the largest homeless shelter in Nebraska. With Creighton’s various partnerships with service-based programs around the city, the Siena/Francis House is the community partner for Swanson Hall.
This year marks the second annual “Cold Toes, Warm Hearts” event sponsored by Swanson Hall. It will take place to raise money for the Siena/Francis House and awareness of the greater community surrounding our campus. Participants in the event pledge $5 and wear flip-flops or sandals for the entire day. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go directly to the Siena/Francis House.
“We wanted to have an event that pushed participants out of their comfort zone and become advocates for a neglected population,” assistant resident director of Swanson Hall abd Arts and Sciences senior Anne Daly said. “We want to foster solidarity in the human experience by ‘putting on someone else’s shoes’ and experiencing a day where we are cold and uncomfortable.”
Those who are brave enough to defeat the cold and act in solidarity will be able to reflect and engage in awareness of this issue. It is the hope that through this event, participants will bring awareness to issues we do not think about every day and often take for granted.
“This is an eye opening experience to the things we take for granted every day: shelter, food, clothes, etc.,” resident director of Swanson Hall Matt Nelson said. “This event has the potential to start a conversation of why someone is wearing flip-flops and from there it will raise awareness of the event and larger problems.”
The event has the potential to showcase students in solidarity and raise awareness about those experiencing homelessness in Omaha. It also has the potential to reach other organizations and students who also care about this issue.
Swanson Hall’s service, faith and justice ambassador and Nursing sophomore Nikki George, an executive team, Residence Hall Council and IRHG helped put this event together. George said after speaking with one of the Siena/Francis House’s directors, Tim Sully, that this was an event the team thought was essential and must to continue. In addition to participants wearing flip-flops, this year other things have been added to the event to create more of a discussion about the issues Siena/Francis House deals with.
“There [was] a reflection board outside as well as videos, posters and stories inside the hospitality room to create these discussions,” George said. “We really want to stress that there is so much more that meets the eye when it comes to those experiencing homelessness.”
George explains that the Siena/Francis House strives to help these individuals overcome the obstacles they are facing, and who better to help than the students to live to be men and women for and with others.
“We as bright, motivated Creighton students have so many resources to help, as well as our time and talents, we have the opportunity to really be ‘men and women for and with others,” George said. “I hope that we [created] a little spark in those participating and even those seeing the reflection wall on the Mall to move to action or even get their minds thinking about this issue.”