Just because they don't have a home doesn't mean they don't have a story. And when Danny Heggen, 23, of Des Moines, figured that out and heard that in 2007 Youth and Shelter Services in Iowa served more than 7,000 homeless youth, he decided to record their stories in a book.
The inspiration for writing a book about Iowa’s homeless youth stems from Danny’s experience studying abroad in Australia. He spent 10 months working with professor Ian Fairnie interviewing women in prison. The women were part of a progressive pre-release rehabilitation system. The goal for the book was to increase community awareness of who the women in the program were.
Heggen isn’t the kind of guy you’d picture interviewing women in an Australian prison—or any prison for that matter. His wiry frame, wispy hair, and wire-rim glasses make him more at home in a library or smoky bar, not a half-way house for female prisoners. What he has going for him are his warm eyes, listening ear, and easy, Iowa smile. Even so, considering Danny had no journalism experience and had never even done an interview, it seemed like a recipe for failure.
Danny was upfront with the women he was interviewing. Armed with a tape recorder and a mission to hear the women’s stories, Heggen started each conversation the only way he knew how: by sharing his story.
He was candid with the women. He told them, “I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m a guy. I’m from the United States. I grew up in the middle class. I had every opportunity and privilege that you have never experienced.” But when all that was stripped away, he would tell them he knew what it was like to lose something he loved. He shared how the summer after he graduated from high school, he watched his best friend die of brain cancer. Even though he didn’t know what it was like to have to steal to feed his family or lose his freedom, he could relate to loss.
Danny was quick to tell the women, “I’m not here to understand you.” Instead, he said, “I’m here because I care about you, and I know you have a powerful story that others need to hear.” He wanted to know where they came from, their experiences, and their hopes and dreams for the future. He didn’t ask questions; he just listened. And as he listened to their stories, he saw how sharing an experience with someone else creates instant community.
“Everyone has a story,” Heggen says. "When people are willing to share their stories, they open themselves up to community on a very personal level."
Heggen returned from Australia in December of 2007 to finish his last semester at Simpson College. “I knew I wanted to be a writer who was focused on community and helping people,” he says.
Prior to his time in Australia, Danny helped with the first annual Reggie’s Sleepout. The event that raises awareness and money for Central Iowa’s homeless youth was Danny’s first introduction to the issue of homeless youth in Iowa. Standing in church on Easter Sunday, he realized what he had to do. He had been asking himself how he was going to become a writer and produce something that made a difference. The answer was right in front of him.
“I wanted to write about community,” he says. “I might as well focus on an issue within community. For some reason I had been given this opportunity that taught me all the steps.” The challenge was convincing people he was qualified to write about the issue of homeless youth. At this point, he was 22 years old and fresh out of college with no background in sociology.
Danny spent the summer painting houses with his dad and saving money so he could focus on the book full-time in the fall. With $4,000 in his pocket he moved into an attic room in a house with seven other guys. He told them that was all the money he had to live on until the book was done. He formed an instant community with these guys and they became his live-in support system as he began writing the book.
Danny started volunteering at shelters and the Catholic Worker full-time and picked up a few hours a week delivering pizzas. He was meeting people and sharing his heart for the issue and what he wanted his book to be about, but after 2 1/2 months he still didn’t have any stories. Finally he connected with Nikki Dempsey, coordinator for Iowa Homeless Youth in Des Moines. She read the book he had worked on in Australia and understood what he wanted to do.
The title: “From a Growing Community, Iowa’s Homeless Youth” came from the idea of growing. The issue is growing in our community and gaining new faces every day, Danny says. “If people buy this book and learn more about this issue, they’re growing together. The community’s growing and I’m doing the footwork. I hope it will encourage people to get involved and share ideas.”
As with the women in Australia, when Danny talked to homeless youth, he stressed that they all have a story worth sharing. “It takes a lot to realize what your story weighs,” he says.
The book contains nine letters telling what happened to the kids that brought them to the shelter and where they want to be. It will be printed by Wilcox Printing and published by Shrieking Tree. Justin Norman, Wesley Norman, and Nicole Anderson are the designers.
Danny estimates that more than 2,400 volunteer hours went into the book, with more than 1,800 of the hours his own. “My dad always told me that when you’re doing what you want to be doing, it won’t feel like work,” Danny says. “That’s exactly how this has all felt. This has been the most incredible work.”
The next step is promoting the book, which will be available June 1. Danny plans to spend the summer and fall traveling across the state telling his story and selling books. “When someone buys a book 50 percent of proceeds will go to shelters and 50 percent to overhead,” Danny says. His goal is to sell at least 10,000 copies. “That would be $100,000 donated back to youth shelters,” he says. “It can happen. I just have to talk to enough people.”
Proceeds will be divided equally between shelters in Ames and Des Moines and will go to a special needs fund that will allow shelters to take youth to special events or bring in guest speakers.
“There’s not a book that exists like this in Iowa,” he says. “This has become more than myself, and I just get to talk about it. It’s a wonderful reason to be smiling. It’s only been a year and this is what I accomplished.”
Preorder a copy of the book for $15 at http://shriekingtree.com/growingcommunity.
