The University of Minnesota’s HOPE club is dedicated to identifying and addressing the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness in the greater Twin Cities area.
Through collaboration, fundraising and awareness events, the club provides support resources and opportunities to make a positive impact on the community, such as creating care kits for homeless individuals for the winter.
HOPE, which stands for “Homelessness Outreach, Prevention and Education,” was created by University students in March 2024. Club President Manushri Ivaturi, a fourth-year student from India who helped create the club, said she was inspired by simply living in Minneapolis.
“It kind of humbles you,” Ivaturi said. “When you speak to people just going to the metro or just walking downtown and you learn about their lives and interact with them, you can’t not be sympathetic.”
Ivaturi said she wanted to do her part in contributing and giving back.
“Our goal is to approach the issue without any bias or sensitivity towards the issue,” Ivaturi said. “We are not trying to be on a high horse or anything like that. We are just trying to approach it from a human aspect and do anything we can to provide support, resources, opportunity and volunteering.”
Maya Aadland, a third-year student and the club’s outreach coordinator, said HOPE also tries to give students insight into how outside factors can contribute to homelessness.
Aadland said education on these issues can help reduce biases surrounding homelessness. She added different club activities may help students feel they are doing something to address those biases.
Miftahul Jannat, the club’s PR manager, said that, despite seeing homeless people every day on her commute to class, she never quite understood why or how they might be in that position.
“Homelessness is not random, and it is not people’s fault,” Aadland said. “It has to do with mental health, growing up in poverty, that kind of thing. For future events, we are going to find more speakers based in those areas.”
The club hosted Stacy Overby, an addiction medicine clinic supervisor at Hennepin Healthcare, at one of its meetings in October.
During her talk, Overby told meeting attendees that homeless people may use drugs to stay awake at night so their belongings are not stolen, according to Jannat.
“When you see people like this on a regular basis, you jump to conclusions,” Jannat said. “Saying, ‘Oh they’re drug addicts’ and judging them, instead of thinking critically that they’re trying to survive. And unless I heard someone actually saying that to me, it wouldn’t click in my brain.”
At the club’s most recent event, Aadland said members made care kits for homeless people in the area, including toiletries and clothing items. The club donated the kits to Minneapolis non-profit YouthLink, which helps people ages 16-24 who are experiencing homelessness.
Ivaturi said any chance the club will take any chance it can to collaborate with shelters and nonprofits.
Aadland said she was inspired to join the club due to the number of homeless people she sees every day and wanted to help in any way she could.
“It really breaks my heart, and it genuinely makes me feel really sad,” Aadland said. “Having that feeling, I started to look up student groups so I could channel that energy somewhere.
Jannat’s goal for the club is the continued growth of membership and education of students. She said the most important thing to her is knowing that people care.
“Knowing people care can be seen through these events,” Jannat said. “When they want to get educated, when they want to help and when they want to learn how they can help the homeless population as individuals.”
