Mary Murray remembers being homeless. She was 15 then, and she vividly recalls the constant fight to survive.
“Looking back I had to use some savvy skills to avoid rape, death and who knows what,” she said. “Along the way I always had someone older than me that could provide helpful ideas for my survival. I slept where I could, ate out of garbage cans, then I started work as a dishwasher in a five star restaurant. Yes I did eat the scraps the servers brought me on the dirty plates. But I bet I constantly ate better than anyone I know.”
Sometimes the choices were as difficult as the living conditions. She moved in with her grandparents, and managed to graduate from high school - but at the cost of suffering sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather. She moved in with a male friend and his father, but remained on the very edge of homelessness.
“The trailer was in the woods,” she recalled. “Inside it was filthy. My bedroom there was just a mattress on the floor. That first night while I was crying myself to sleep, I heard rats running through all the walls. The next day I promptly left. I slept and ate here and there, took a shower whenever possible.”
Mary eventually got off the streets, met her future husband, and raised a child. But she remembers, still. And now at age 52, Mary Murray is a student at Miami Dade College - and she is one of thousands of student social entrepreneurs taking part in the annual Clinton Global Initiative University (or CGIU in Clintonland) in Miami this week. Each student brings a project - a commitment, in CGI-speak - and seeks partners and funding. Murray’s team is working on serving the homeless - and for the licensed insurance agent (who notes she still has “a household to run”) it brings a lifetime’s experience full circle to the streets of south Florida.
Together with group leader Thang Kim, and another student, Sofia Suarez - both 20-year-olds - Murray is working on a project that centers around the creation of the NapSak, a new kind of sleeping back designed for homeless people; Kim is currently designing the prototype.
“It is a sleeping bag which is thermal, waterproof, and has pockets for all the little things such as a toothbrush and toothpaste that a homeless person has, but doesn’t have anywhere to put them,” says Murray. “We are also hoping to design a zipper screen for the NapSak head area, as a few weeks ago I was visiting homeless people on the street, and one man mentioned a rat problem is one of the biggest problems for their community at the moment. I know that overnight, when everything is said and done, and the shops are all closed, even though people have little communities on the street, they still need to protect themselves from all kinds of things; even rats.”
The NapSak is designed to be portable, comfortable and practical.
“The idea is that when a homeless person wants to move from where they are, they can just roll up the NapSak and go on their way,” said Murray. “The design itself for the NapSak comes from our group member Thang, he is sourcing the material, and is working with engineers. Our group didn’t realize how big this project could really get! We are really excited because there lots of things happening all around the world, but this is happening in our community, and we are trying to help the homeless population.”
Murray said that the team is using its time at CGIU (which unfolds this weekend at the University of Miami) as an opportunity to attract funders.
“I am hoping to network with people who not only have a vision, but people who have accomplished things already,” she said. “I think this will really help us with our project, what we want to do, and how we can move forward with building up funding and support. I am personally looking to connect with young minds and to get some ideas. CGI University is fascinating to me as I have never been involved with something like this, and I want to learn other ways I can help people.”
A few years ago, I spoke at CGIU and was impressed with the energy of the young people who converged on campus to pitch their ideas, build networks, and seek out funders and supporters. But Mary Murray is in my age group, and to me, her commitment stands out - and shows that social entrepreneurship is not the exclusive province of younger startup mavens.
“I think people need to find out what their skills are and what they like to do, even if it is later in life, such as me at fifty-two,” she said. Maybe they are maternal, and they can start an after-school care program. Or, they care about elderly people, and volunteer to mow their lawn. Because of what I went through, as well as age and experience, I became a stronger, more independent woman, and I care about the homeless people in my community. I’m also not afraid to introduce myself to people and network, which is a really important part of making a difference.”
At a meeting like CGIU, which operates as both a convocation and a potential matching service for programs and funders under the aegis of the Clinton Foundation, good deeds can sometimes turn into social ventures with real scale. That’s what Mary Murray and her team are hoping for.
“You can’t buy the feeling that comes from helping out your fellow man, at least not on this scale.”
