This past week, Habitat for Humanity had their annual fundraiser to raise awareness for homelessness. As important as it is for people to talk about the issue, and although they raised money for a good cause, they missed the mark a little.
The fundraiser is called “Shanty Town.” They asked for some money in return to make a cardboard shanty that students could sleep in during the night, and this year managed to include a food truck and live music.
It sounded like fun. But there’s something that bothers me.
Even though people are being helpful, I imagine that any person that has experienced homelessness would be baffled by seeing a fundraiser with students eating food, listening to music and camping outside, being labeled as a “Shanty Town” as though it accurately represents the experience of being homeless.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting at all that Habitat for Humanity is a bad organization, or that they can’t throw any events. That would be stupid.
What I’m pointing out is that this event is a little off for having a “homeless” theme. Have a fundraiser or awareness event, sure, but don’t include the “homeless experience” as part of the fun.
Homelessness is a traumatizing experience that you can’t simulate by laying outside on the quad of the campus for a night.
Consider this kind of attitude being applied to other issues. For example, another serious issue is the refugee crisis. Imagine a charitable organization throwing an event similar to a “zombie run” or some random event where you pay $30 to pretend to run from a war at home. Anyone would be outraged.
To me, this kind of behavior epitomizes privilege. How could you belittle someone’s struggle more effectively than by making it “fun?”
This has too much in common with a topic under scrutiny in 2013, where Stephen Colbert included a bit on his show The Colbert Report about “Shanty Town” in South Africa, where vacationers could pay to live in a shanty-themed resort.
That company made money, but also had a charitable portion (as though it justified anything). We’d all agree that anyone staying at that resort had achieved a new level of privilege, one where poverty was just a joke.
Now, Habitat for Humanity is not even close to that level insensitivity. They are good people doing good things. It’s a similar principal, though. Any event framing poverty or homelessness as “fun” is simply insensitive. 
Have events, and make them fun. Have music, food trucks and keep everyone involved in the issues; but consider dropping the part of the event that ironically implies homelessness isn’t a problem.