Dawn Heinbach is a non-traditional Kutztown University student undertaking a literary journalism pilot project called ‘Writing Wrongs’. In this case the ‘Wrong’ is the community story of homelessness. Rachel Lee is one of 15 area college students who hopes to better understand the issue of homelessness by spending Labor Day weekend entrenched in the world of the homeless at Opportunity House in Reading. Rachel Lee is a student at Millersville and she says she hopes to learn from people who have ‘lived’ life. Rachel is looking for their wisdom and wants to share it with others.
The goal of the project is to shed light on the homeless issue that exists in our own backyard yet is often invisible. The hope is that by writing the stories of homeless men, women and children a shift in the way we connect with the homeless will occur. That shift will be the beginning of change in the way we see and treat homeless individuals.
Writing Wrongs allows us to see homelessness through the eyes of the homeless and the volunteers that serve them at Opportunity House in Reading. At the end of Labor Day weekend the stories that are gathered will be shared in print and online.
