Saint Louis University opened its doors to more than 300 of the local needy as part of its seventh annual Homeless Awareness Week. Sponsored by the Community Outreach Program, the week’s events also included a speaking engagement by Robert Egger, founder of Campus Kitchen. Organizers said that they hoped the week would both educate students about the problems facing the city’s homeless and inspire them to act for change.

“The Community Outreach Program is supposed to bridge the gap between SLU and the surrounding community and to make sure SLU is helping its neighbors . This week’s goal was to bring awareness of the plight of homeless in the St. Louis area,” said Kevin Tucker, director the Community Outreach Program.

SLU hosted more than 300 homeless men and women at Open Doors in the Simon Recreation Center on Wednesday. Besides enjoying a free hot meal, guests also could meet with representatives from a variety of local organizations that provide assistance for the homeless. They could receive advice on housing, job training or legal problems.

Organizers also distributed clothing collected during a recent University-wide drive.

Some SLU nursing students were also on hand to provide free health screenings. Guests at Open Doors could receive blood pressure readings or blood sugar tests.

“A lot of homeless people don’t know that high blood pressure can cause heart attacks or strokes; they’re just concerned about getting their next meal. [The open house] gave them a chance to check their condition and to make sure they weren’t in danger,” said Abbey Boulicault, one of the nursing students who volunteered Wednesday.

Homeless Awareness Week also featured a speech by Robert Egger, president of D.C. Central Kitchen and one of the founders of the Campus Kitchen Project.

Held Tuesday night in the Tegeler Hall Auditorium, the speech covered Egger’s vision for pragmatic social change and political action.

“The future is not more non-profits-it’s businesses acting like non-profits. It’s business students studying here today graduating and paying their employees a living wage and giving them election day off. It will be those students saying that I don’t need a second house what I already have one,” Egger said.

Egger said that “dependence was a form of bondage” and suggested that the real solution to homeless was a shift in the nation’s priorities and economic organization.

Homeless Awareness Week will conclude today with an hour prayer and reflection.

The discussion is open to all and begins at 2 p.m. in the Dorothy Day Room of the Campus Ministry buildings.