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Nov. 25, 2009
By Lori Lindner
NORTH LIBERTY LEADER
lori@northlibertyleader.com
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Justin Norman (left) and Danny Heggen have published a moving, honest book of personal accounts from Iowa's homeless teens.
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DES MOINES- Nine lives, each unique. They are from isolated rural towns and thriving inner cities; some lived with two parents, some have only known foster parents, and some were single parents themselves, before they were of legal age. Some have suffered unthinkable abuse, while others only watched episodes of family violence as regular as the evening news. They have been straight-A students, drug addicts, thieves and scared little girls.
Nine stories - each unique.
What brought them together are the commonalities they share: they are all Iowa's children, and they have all been homeless, or nearly so, for much of their young lives.
Danny Heggen felt their stories- raw and rough and shocking as they are- were important for others to hear. His book, "From a Growing Community: Iowa's Homeless Youth," is a compilation of letters that represent just a sampling of the estimated 10,000 homeless young people from around the state.
Twenty-four-year-old Heggen is not of their world. Raised in a stable, middle-class family in Woodward, Iowa, Heggen was a pre-med student. When a very good friend died of brain cancer, the event changed Heggen's life.
"I needed to find some way to express the loss," Heggen said. "His story was something that stayed with me, and I needed to find a way to tell it"
A student at Simpson College, Heggen switched his college major to English, and became a writer. While studying abroad, a volunteer experience in a women's prison in Perth, Australia, led Heggen to publish a collection of the inmates' life stories. Titled "Voices on the Inside: the Women of Boronia," the book was Heggen's way of giving depth to the women's tales, of helping people understand there was more to each prisoner than her crime.
He returned to Iowa in 2007, and, while volunteering at Iowa Homeless Youth Centers (IHYC) shelters in Des Moines and at Youth Shelter Services (YSS) in Ames, he met kids from all over the state.
"Homelessness is a statewide issue," he said, noting that 97 of Iowa's 99 counties report statistics on homeless youth. "They just end up wherever the services are"
And wherever they had come from, Heggen heard similarities in their stories. He heard, over and again, how many of these young people had never been cared for, never felt safe, had never had their voices heard.
Heggen initiated a project similar to his work in Perth, asking teens to submit their personal accounts of homelessness. He received 10 letters almost immediately, written in long-hand, most with no return addresses; the letter-writers have none.
"The power of these letters is that they are intimate and personal," Heggen said. "Each is an honest glimpse of a real personality, that reveals who these youth are. You might get tired of hearing the number, '10,000 homeless,' but these are actual people, who invested time to write these letters. There's somebody behind each one"
There's Steph, (a pseudonym) from Iowa City, whose step-dad threw her mother through the front window on Christmas Eve when Steph was 11.
"When those fights would happen, (Mom) would always promise to never make us go through that again. Then, a couple days later, she'd go back to him, and it'd happen again.
"It always happened again"
The physical violence and verbal abuse started Steph on a continual pattern of running away from home, which led to sleeping outdoors, spending time in shelters and eventually being driven into the country, raped and abandoned on the roadside by someone she thought was a friend when she was just 15.
There's Trevor, from Cedar Rapids, who grew up watching his parents do drugs and his father's routine incarceration. Finding community within gang life, for Trevor, included dealing cocaine, fighting in school and, during a drug deal gone south, running while his best friend died of a gunshot wound in an alley. When his father was released from jail, the physical fights between Trevor and his dad got so bad, Trevor set out on his own.
"When he was drinking, we'd get into fist-fights," Trevor wrote. "All I could do to get away from this was run. So I did"
There's also John, who, along with his two parents and two sisters, lived in a trailer with holes in the floor and no heat. When money for the water bill dried up, the family used jugs to steal water from a nearby farmer's well. Though his father works and his mother collects disability, the family relies on the services of nearby shelters to get by; things like deodorant and extra blankets became unaffordable luxuries.
"When prices for things kept going up, it took a lot out of my family," wrote John. "We're the part of America that couldn't afford those changes"
The stories are told with brutal honesty, often in shocking detail. However, Heggen has been able to see beyond the profanity and pain, the graphic nature of lives lived desperately, and he hopes readers will, too.
"Everything about these kids has been censored their entire lives," Heggen said. "If (a reader) is offended by their language, (he or she) is not focusing on the real issue"
Heggen made homelessness his focus, and found a like-minded partner to help bring his project to the next level. Graphic artist and designer, musician and photographer Justin Norman is the founder of the Des Moines-based design and publishing company Shrieking Tree. Norman had been volunteering at the Des Moines Catholic Worker, and he and Heggen began to brainstorm about how to bring the stories of Iowa's homeless teen population to light.
Further, they wanted to demonstrate what the rest of us can do to help, as individuals and as a community.
"This project is important to me because it has shown me what I am capable of," said Norman. "Graphic design doesn't have to be just slathering everything that comes off an assembly line with gloss. I'm able to use my interests and my strengths to get involved"
That's not just rhetoric for these two young men. Armed with the motto, "Don't doubt what can be accomplished; be a part of it," and buoyed by the help of Justin's photographer-brother Wesley and friend and designer Nicole Anderson, as well as assistance from musician friends who put on a concert to raise funds to print the book, the four have sold over 900 copies so far. At $20 per copy, half of each book sale goes directly back to Iowa's homeless shelters.
Heggen and Norman felt it was critical their efforts not only help the homeless, but that they support those who provide services every day.
"I know it sounds cliche, but this book is proof that if everybody does a small part, it makes a difference," said Norman.
Heggen suggests no gesture is too small, and even small things are significant.
"It can be something as brief as serving a meal at a shelter, or whatever you can do" If you quilt or knit, donate a blanket, he said. If you like to cook, help in a shelter's kitchen. Donate your unwanted clothes, give somebody a ride, listen to their words.
"The list goes on and on. Helping means different things for different people. Hopefully, you'll figure out (what you can do)," Norman said.
For the 26- year- old Norman, a Christian background provides simple guidance.
"I think churches have a special responsibility," in helping others, said Norman. "Basically, do to others what you want done to you"
For communities, the two give this advice, from the perspectives of the young homeless people they have come to know:
"They need consistency from the community. They need to know we are here, and still care about them," Heggen said. Reaching out means acknowledging homelessness is an issue, in every community. "Don't silence them, but give them a voice and actually engage them in something meaningful"
The rewards may not be tangible, but they are real.
"The kids are thankful," said Norman. "It brings their stories out of the muffled cracks they've fallen into"
To purchase a copy of "From a Growing Community: Iowa's Homeless Youth," visit www.shriekingtree.com/growingcommunity. Every purchase garners $10 for Iowa's homeless shelters.
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