BMUFSD: Briarcliff High School Student Wins 3rd Place In Local Essay Contest

Press release from the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District:

2023-03-29

An incident involving a homeless man at a New York City thrift shop inspired Briarcliff High School sophomore Haley Berger to write an essay about the stigma of homeless people and submit it to a local contest. That essay has earned her third place in her category, as well as a cash prize.

The essay “A Cry for Help,” was one of the submissions in the essay contest open to students in seventh-12th grades who attend school in Westchester County.

The Sixth Annual Student Essay Contest is sponsored by “Lifting Up Westchester,” a non-profit agency committed to helping individuals experiencing homelessness and hunger to achieve self-sufficiency.

This year, students were invited to write about the connections and misperceptions associated with homelessness and mental health. The main subject of the essays was how those experiencing homelessness might face particular mental health challenges and how mental health can influence how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices.

Haley was thrilled to learn her essay won third place the ninth and 10th grade category.

“I am very excited about winning third place in this contest and glad my writing was recognized by others,” she said. “I chose to participate in this contest because I love writing and found the topic this year to be particularly interesting as people often do not consider the connections between homelessness and mental health.”

Haley hopes that people who read her essay will realize that mental health issues can affect anyone.

“Anyone can suffer from mental health issues, and it is important for communities to raise awareness about this issue to help people get much-needed support,” she said. “While homelessness can lead to mental health issues, it is often the mental struggles that can lead to personal conflicts, including homelessness.”

Haley credits her current Briarcliff High School English teacher Karen McCarthy with helping her hone her writing skills.

“Ms. McCarthy has helped me improve my writing and has inspired and encouraged me this year,” she said. “She is always willing to read my writing and provide beneficial feedback.

Here is Haley’s Essay:

A Cry For Help

“I never had a place to call my own I never had a home, ain’t nobody callin’ my phone/Where you been? Where you at? What’s on your mind?/They say every life precious but nobody care about mine.”

The lines from this 2017 hit song, 1-800-273-8255, by Logic, Alessia Cara, and Khalid highlight the issues of mental health and homelessness. This song reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100, emphasizing how many people relate to its lyrics and message. Having the suicide prevention hot line as the title of the song really underscores the problem of mental health in society today. One of the most common struggles people of all ages, genders, and ethnicities experience in the world today involves mental health issues. Many struggle to find a balance between the negative and positive things in their lives. Without the proper resources, inner struggles grow and weaken people’s emotional health. A global issue intertwined with mental health is homelessness. Homeless people live some of the most stressful and complicated lives in the world. Lacking a home means lacking a place of comfort, privacy, and security. Without a home, people struggle to find happiness and safety, factors that contribute to mental health issues. Not only does being homeless strain one’s mental health but having weakened mental health can be a factor leading to homelessness and further mental instability.

Homeless people struggle significantly with mental health issues. When people see others experiencing homelessness, they often assume they are suffering from a mental illness purely based on how they look. If a homeless person approaches you, your immediate thought may be to ignore and avoid them because they could be a threat. However, this reaction can make them feel lonely and unaccepted in society. Last year, I had a personal encounter in New York City that deeply affected my views towards homeless people. Just as I entered a thrift shop downtown, one of the security guards suddenly sprinted out of the store. A few minutes later, the guard returned out of breath, carrying a pair of designer sneakers. A minute later, a homeless man entered the store wearing no shoes. It was clear that the homeless man had stolen the shoes from the store. The man cursed loudly and aggressively at the guard and threatened him. People in the store, including myself, became scared and concerned he would become violent. Eventually, they got the homeless man to leave the store but everyone inside was still very worried, yelling at the workers to lock the door. Observing his behavior made me initially become cautious around homeless people. Only after thinking more about this man’s life and hardships could I start to look past his outburst.

As human beings, we are quick to make assumptions about others without knowing who they are. Maybe we do it out of fear in an attempt to avoid danger, or maybe we label others as flawed rather than look at our own defects. People may view homelessness as a cause of mental health struggles. However, it is often the opposite. Sometimes it is the mental struggles people experience that lead to homelessness. An article titled “Improving Mental Health Systems Could Help Curb Homelessness” by Margaret Mathieson (www.invisiblepeople.tv) reveals how one woman became homeless. According to the article, this woman began to experience mental health problems after her fiancé left; she felt unsafe in her own country, causing her stress levels to increase. She felt suicidal, resigned from her job, and found herself without a home. She had several suicide attempts and went for help yet received insufficient support, which led her behavior to dramatically change. This woman’s experience shows how events in everyday lives can lead to damaged mental health which, without the proper resources, can lead to self-harm and behavioral changes that could lead to homelessness. Many times, homeless people are ordinary people who lack the proper resources and emotional support. Not everyone who has damaged mental health will become homeless, but those who do not have access to the proper resources can struggle to strengthen their emotional state alone. This is exactly why organizations like Lifting up Westchester are important, as they provide homeless people with the life-changing support they need including food, shelter, and a sense of community.

Events out of our control, like the recent pandemic, can greatly affect mental health. With unemployment rates reaching a new high during COVID-19, homelessness became an even greater problem, resulting in increased depression and suicide rates. A survey discussed in an article titled “Mental Health Care for Homeless People is Essential, especially During the Pandemic” by Ryan Polsky (www.invisiblepeople.tv) found that the pandemic had a larger effect on homeless people who had mental illness, roughly one quarter of the homeless population. A new hot line developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is now available to help people of all ages experiencing personal mental health issues. Even though mental health was an issue long before the pandemic, the universal experience of COVID-19 made it more common to talk about these emotional issues and struggles. The creation of this new hotline that provides help to anyone, anytime, is a step in the right direction towards increasing mental health awareness and support.

After researching and reading different accounts of homelessness through the process of writing this essay, I have a newfound perspective of the incident I experienced. The man who appeared homeless to me at the time may have been suffering from a mental illness. Hopefully, this man was able to receive the help he needed as I now realize this incident could have been a cry for help. Organizations like Lifting Up Westchester can help solve issues in today’s world simply by providing support. It is up to our generation to volunteer and help change the stereotypes people have towards the homeless and the importance of mental health support. While I can’t completely change my feelings from my experience, writing this essay has reminded me to not judge people by their appearance without first trying to understand their personal situations.

This press release was produced by the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.