Racy drive for homeless draws scorn from charities
Racy drive for homeless draws scorn from charities
By CHEN MAY YEE, Star Tribune
July 12, 2008
A Web campaign that encourages young people to post striptease videos of themselves as a way of raising clothing donations for homeless youths has drawn fire from numerous groups who help the homeless.
A national network serving homeless youth said Saturday that it is reconsidering the controversial campaign after Catholic Charities and other outraged groups in Minnesota and around the country complained the effort was inappropriate and exploited young people.
The fracas started just over a week ago, when Virgin Mobile USA, one of the largest cell phone companies in the country, and the National Network For Youth (NN4Y), a Washington, D.C., lobbying group for more than 150 organizations that help homeless youth, decided to test an edgy new web campaign.
They asked young people to post videos of themselves stripping to music in exchange for donations of new clothes from clothing companies.
The clothes would go to young homeless people. The campaign was called "Strip2Clothe" with the tagline "You take off yours, we donate ours."
Although no full nudity was permitted, organizers hoped the campaign would attract attention.
It did.
In the past week, "Strip2Clothe" has sparked outrage among NN4Y's own members. Some groups say they were never consulted on the concept and are appalled by the idea of young people stripping to provide clothes for other young people. The organizations' names have since been taken off the site.
"It's distasteful and inappropriate and exploitative," said Rebecca Lentz, a spokesperson for Catholic Charities. "We never authorized this nor were we ever approached to be involved."
Catholic Charities is one of Minnesota's biggest charities and runs Hope Street, a Minneapolis shelter for those aged 16-21.
The campaign concept was especially jarring because many kids living on the street find themselves sexually exploited within a day or two of becoming homeless, said Lentz.
Victoria Wagner, chief executive of NN4Y, said the campaign is so far limited to a small test market and is being seriously re-evaluated.
"It's unfortunate it's become so explosive," Wagner said. NN4Y is discussing the issue with Virgin Mobile and expects to have a resolution on Tuesday.
Virgin Mobile, which said it had established "good taste" criteria to keep videos "fun but not salacious," was more defiant.
"[We] believe that promotion [of the site] will result in thousands of new clothes being provided for those in need," spokesperson Jayne Wallace said in a letter to the NN4Y dated July 9, which urged members to support the campaign.
Virgin couldn't be reached for comment Saturday.
According to a recent survey on homelessness, there are about 1,850 homeless young adults under 21 on any given night in Minnesota. About 14 percent of those had exchanged sex for food or clothing or other essentials, according to the Oct. 2006 report by the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation in St. Paul.
Catholic Charities said it didn't know about "Strip2Clothe" until a staff member saw the organization's name on the website Tuesday.
Nor did the folks at StreetWorks, a Twin Cities collaborative that's part of the non-profit Freeport West, Inc.
"It was a shock to everybody," said Trudee Able-Peterson, coordinator of outreach services at StreetWorks. "This is the message we send kids? That my granddaughter, who's 17, should strip to provide clothes for other kids?"
At least nine Minnesota-basedTxt2clothe
Txt2clothe is a joint initiative between National Network for Youth, Virgin Mobile USA, and apparel partners supplying brand new clothes to homeless youth across the country. By texting the word “KARMA” to 68405, a piece of clothing is donated to homeless youth. (Standard text rates apply.) National Network for Youth member organizations across the country will take these donations where they are most needed.
Strip2Clothe
Strip2Clothe is a partnership between NN4Y, Virgin Mobile, their apparel partners, and 400 charities to provide BRAND NEW clothing to homeless youth across the country. At Strip2Clothe.co
Sadly, many young people on the streets end up in situations where they are forced to strip and worse as a means of survival. By participating in this effort, NN4Y hopes to build awareness and a strong pool of resources where young people are never faced with these tough situations.
So what's this got to do with you taking off your clothes? The truth is, someone out there needs clothes more than you do. And by making your video, you send a message to the million homeless kids out there - letting them know that you're aware of their situation and care enough to help out. So for every approved video you submit, one piece of new clothing is donated. And for every five people who watch your video, another piece of new clothing is donated. All of this is done through NN4Y member organizations across the country.
Text. Strip. Watch. = Clothing homeless youth.
How easy is that?
