The Daily Tar Heel

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: City

Audrey Layden wants to make homelessness personal on WCOM radio today.

Layden organized the local programming for Chapel Hill's first Homelessness Marathon broadcast.

"Putting faces on the homeless is critical," Layden said.

She first became involved with the homeless when she recruited volunteers for the Inter-Faith Council for Social Services 20 years ago.

She wants to see people become "a little less judgmental, a little more open" as a result of the broadcast.

Local leaders, volunteers and shelter guests will talk beginning at 7 p.m. about different aspects of the issue and take questions from listeners for the first three hours. Then WCOM will switch to national programing from the Homelessness Marathon, now in its 11th year.

Laurie Tucker, IFC's director of residential services, will be on air for one hour with shelter guests Elaine and Abdul.

Abdul, who is only using his first name for the radio, said he hopes people will learn that IFC services, such as career counseling and assistance, are successful if the homeless work to better their condition.

"Because the program does work," Abdul said. "You have to work the program."

Homelessness Marathon Director Jeremy Alderson did the first marathon in central New York City in 1998, and it has since spread to more than 125 radio stations.

"I thought it would be a one-time deal, but … people responded so positively that I decided to do it again on a national basis," Alderson said in an e-mail. "The broadcast has grown ever since."

It is intended to increase awareness and will include no fundraising, Alderson said.

"Odd as it may sound, the more I've delved into this rather depressing subject, the more uplifting it became, because I really have come to believe in the good heart of the American people," Alderson said.

Chapel Hill Town Council member Sally Greene will speak on the air with Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton about area efforts to address homelessness.

Chilton plans to specifically discuss "housing first," a program that places homeless people in affordable permanent residences.

"It's partly a moral issue of how we treat human beings, but it's also an economic issue," Chilton said.

Layden said she wants listeners to understand that there is more than one picture of homeless. Homeless people are not merely panhandlers on Franklin Street or drug addicts, but people suffering from poor economic and health circumstances and other hardships, she said.

"We want people to say, 'Hey, these are human beings.' Don't create a prejudicial picture in your mind," Layden said.

"We want people to wake up and see there is a real problem. We are not immune to it."



Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.

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