“THIS WAY HOME MARVIN,” written on an old piece of cardboard, coupled with an arrow pointing in the direction of a hand-made shanty, is all that hangs on a nearby tree. This is the only address for some of the homeless men or women that live in the woods in Ames.

Almost 300 yards northeast of K-Mart, 1405 Buckeye Ave., through fallen trees and waist high grass, lies a small settlement that serves as home for someone. Four trees act as corner-posts while old Christmas trees, still tied up in bundles, fill the spaces in between. Chicken wire holds the trees together, while in turn, twine holds the chicken wire.

Various types of cloth and plastic cover the top, and gently drape towards the ground, in what one can only assume is the front door.

Fifty yards away, freshly picked flowers rest in a can on a picnic table. An office chair sits empty next to an old metal drum that is used for grilling. Tabasco sauce, catsup, soy sauce and mustard appear to be the condiments of choice as they sit neatly organized on a small broken table. A skillet hangs nearby, not far from a quiet radio. These are just some of the possessions belonging to a homeless person living in Ames.

According to Vic Moss, director of Freehouse, an adult shelter on South Kellogg in Ames, this “camp” is most likely inhabited by men.

“At any given time, I think you can probably count 40 to 50 people that are classically homeless, which means they find shelter on the street,” Moss said. Of those people, Moss estimates that around 85 percent of them are male.

Sgt. Craig Reid of the Ames Police Department agrees with Moss’s figures, stating that the majority of the homeless that local law enforcement encounter are men.

Both men also agreed that the stereotypes that accompany the homeless are not always correct.

“I guess I really dislike stereotypes because every single person should be judged individually,” Moss said. Moss admits that some of the stereotypes are true, adding that many of the men have alcohol problems. Moss and Reid said they have not seen a lot of drugs in the homeless population because drugs are more expensive than alcohol.

Substance abuse is among the many reasons for homelessness according to Moss. He stresses that homelessness has nothing to do with intelligence, but rather the lack of ability to function in society. “Usually becoming homeless is a result of lack of decisions,” Moss said. “It’s simply because all the other doors have been closed to them for various reasons.”

Moss does not feel that people choose to be homeless.

“I can’t think of people that would really decide as children that they want to become homeless as an adult. I can’t think of anybody that would choose to live in a series of homes as an adult, and live in crowded shelters where you’ve got two or three roommates per room, and you’re sharing a bunk bed with that might have other problems,” Moss said. “There are not very many sane people that would choose that lifestyle if they had better choices,” Moss said.

Some of the homeless that Moss has encountered suffer from mental illnesses. Moss estimated that almost 20 percent of the people he comes in contact with suffer from “severe mental illness.” Reid also recognized mental illness as a part of homelessness, stating that many of them do not take the medication they have been given. It is because of this that some of the homeless act in what Reid terms “abnormal behavior.”

It is this kind of behavior which Reid feels causes people to be cautious of the homeless. Regardless of behavior, both Reid and Moss do not see the homeless as a threat to the well-being of the general public.

“They’re a lot more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators,” Moss said. “When I look at the arrest records in the paper, your chances [of committing a crime] are as high as if you were living in the dorm at the university as if you were living on the streets.”

Reid agreed that there are very few violent crimes involving the homeless. He did say that violence within the homeless community does exist. In past years, the Ames police have had to deal with stabbings and beatings within the homeless population, Reid said.

Despite the violence, both Moss and Reid assist the homeless as best they can. During winter months, Moss tries to make sure that nobody is sleeping outside. He occasionally finds someone sleeping outdoors and gives them a ride back to Freehouse where they are welcome to stay for up to two weeks a year. The police also try to keep a lockout for those that may need shelter.

Reid admits that there is no law that says “you can’t sleep on a park bench,” but that they try to keep people sheltered. The largest concern for both the police and Moss are the families that are homeless. “There are some very, very sad cases out there,” Reid said in reference to family homelessness.

Moss agrees, and said that the majority of people he deals with on a daily basis are families.

According to Moss, a lot of the families are living out of their cars or are very close to being evicted from apartments for not paying rent.

“The first goal is to maintain this as a short term shelter, and the next goal is to help people get out of this rut they’re in,” Moss said. “Generally we don’t turn anyone away at the door. If families show up, we have two apartments where they can stay.” If there is no room for them at Freehouse, they are temporarily placed in local hotels.

“There is so much damage done to kids once they discover how insecure their lives really are,” Moss said. “It’s a nightmarish thing” for parents to be in such situations. Moss blamed these situations for a lot of the abuse and “marital discourse” he had seen.

Erin Stuart, a resident counselor at Rosedale Youth Shelter in Ames, said that she has seen a “cornucopia” of cases where she works, some of which have involved homelessness.

Rosedale accommodates youths, both boys and girls, from ages 10 to 17. Although the present number of once homeless youths staying at the shelter is zero, Stuart said that they have dealt with them in the past.

“If the kids were homeless, they’d come here,” Stuart said. Youths are allowed to be at Rosedale until the age of 18 when they officially become adults and sometimes are referred to Moss.

Freehouse relies on money from the city of Ames, Story County and the federal government to keep its doors open. Guests area allowed to stay the night, but must leave by 9 a.m. Doors at Freehouse lock at 11 p.m.

Moss believes that homelessness could be avoided in many cases, citing examples of how minimum wage and the economy have effected scores of people. Moss wishes that researchers would spend more time trying to determine what cause people to become so socially inept that they resort to living on the streets.