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Staff writer

Ryan spent his nights living in the bushes near Northtown Mall.

Ashley holed up in a porta-potty at Pheasant Ridge Park, a suitable shelter from the wind and rain, the cold and the stares.

Nate slept under the ramps at Sand Creek Skate Park, the wooden fencing surrounding the park providing privacy from onlookers speeding past on Northdale Boulevard.

Jennifer had it best of all. Her 1986 Toyota was home for her. She could get around, had a place to keep the two plastic trash bags that held her things, could stretch out on the soft, dry back seat when night fell.

She had to take care where she parked, though. Stay too long in a “no parking” space and her home would be towed.

The names used in the telling of these stories are not real. These stories are real, however – as real as the night is long.

Karrie Schaaf, youth development director for the Emma B. Howe YMCA, Coon Rapids, put a face to homelessness when she presented the numbers and described the hows, whys and wheres of homelessness in Anoka County.

Schaaf’s presentation was part of the Oct. 29 Compassion Action Network Fall Faith Forum at St. Philip’s Lutheran Church in Fridley. It was attended by dozens of local clergy people.

The forum served as introduction to Homeless Awareness Month, a designation given to the month of November by Anoka County and several of its cities.

Schaaf opened her presentation by giving her audience the cold, hard facts.

The state of Minnesota defines homeless people as “those who have no permanent place to live.”

The fact is, Schaaf said, that definition means people living in a shelter or couch-hopping. Staying in a transitional housing program or existing in a “place not meant for human habitation” are also defined as homeless.

The Anoka County Homeless Count, conducted Jan. 28, 2009, showed 1,004 homeless people living in Anoka County.

Ninety-two of those were young people between the ages of 16 and 21 years old.

That’s right, each night, nearly 100 young people make their homes underneath bridges, inside foreclosed homes or abandoned businesses, cowering beneath the ramps at skate parks, living in the bushes, even holed up in a porta-potty.

Homelessness is an issue in Anoka County.

Schaaf and the Compassion Action Network are out to change that, hence, the Fall Faith Forum titled “Faces, Facts and Impacts: Homelessness in Anoka County.”

“It’s just so awful to think of people living like this, right across the street, right around the corner. It’s happening right here and there’s got to be something we can do to help,” said Gwen Seivert, worship and outreach assistant at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Anoka.

Schaaf offered many ways for folks to help relieve homelessness in Anoka County.

First, she listed several initiatives implemented, organized and/or supported by county staff people.

Activities and initiatives Schaaf listed include food drives and sleep-outs to raise awareness, money collected through Applebee’s restaurant’s Dining to Donate Mondays in November, mitten trees and coats for kids, a bookmark project (between the YMCA and the library), Family Promise of Anoka County, community homelessness displays and the proclamation and recognition of the month of November as Homeless Awareness Month by the county and many of its cities.

At the YMCA, Schaaf said, staff members like herself reach out to homeless youth, keeping them in school or re-enrolling them in school, providing school supplies and clothes, giving them money for extra-curricular activities and special school events, like prom and graduation.

“No one should have to miss out on those school activities that everyone takes for granted,” Schaaf said.

It’s not granted to everyone, so we help these kids have those normal experiences.”

“Now, what can you do to help end homelessness?” Schaaf said, voicing the question poised in the minds of many attending the Oct. 29 Faith Forum.

Schaaf urged community members to organize a sleep-out, volunteer at a shelter, make birthday party kits, donate to local non-profits, call or write to elected officials, get involved with Heading Home Anoka  and educate neighbors and friends, family and co-workers about homelessness.

“Each of us can do something,” Schaaf said. “Don’t leave today without getting involved.”

“In Anoka County, hundreds of people are sleeping outside, under bridges, in wooded areas, in abandoned buildings. That doesn’t have to be.”

Schaaf then distributed her business card and contact information to everyone who would accept them.

To learn more about Heading Home Anoka, the YMCA’s homeless prevention activities, Families Moving Forward, or the Anoka County Children and Family Council, contact Schaaf at 763-717-1867 or 612-618-7183 or e-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

“It’s not just something we see in downtown Minneapolis any more. It’s right here,” said Schaaf.

Sue Austreng is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it