Kicking the ball around: Soccer team is a great program to help the homeless

A new soccer team that recruits the homeless as players is another step in the right direction to reduce chronic homelessness in Chapel Hill.

The team, started by the Hunger and Homelessness Outreach Program (HOPE) of the UNC Campus Y, encourages homeless people to compete in the local branch of Street Soccer USA.

This national program seeks to use the sport to make a positive impact on the lives of those who are homeless.

And there is evidence that such a program can yield positive results.

Because participation in a sport instills confidence, participants in other branches of Street Soccer USA across the country have cut down on drug use and even found employment.

The program also allows its players to build a support system that extends far beyond the soccer field.

A local branch of Street Soccer USA might be able to recreate the organization’s national results in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area.

By participating in a group sport, the team lends an unconventional sense of stability to its homeless players.

In the best-case scenario, such stability would give the homeless a solid support system and confidence that might be a stepping stone to employment, striving for education or finding a permanent living situation.

HOPE’s soccer program follows a literary magazine that the organization founded earlier this semester. The magazine was an important creative outlet for people who often don’t get the chance to express themselves creatively.

We hope that the homeless will find similar fulfillment in soccer.