‘Homelessness has no face.”

Jimmie Schuster, 33, uttered the phrase last weekend during a unique night where Anderson residents got a close-up view of the plight of the homeless.

About 150 people paid $25 to sleep in a tent or $10 to stay in a cardboard box in a vacant eastside lot.

“Reality Check” was sponsored by Alternatives Inc. and the Christian Center, local shelters for women and men.

Most participants took it seriously. Some treated it as a fun camp outing, until they were served chili in plastic bowls. The servers were the homeless men, who later were sleeping in the same type of boxes and tents as the paying customers.

It was those who are currently homeless who gave the night its dignity.

Three years ago, Schuster was a self-described drunk, sleeping under a bridge. Today, he is close to graduating in business management from Harrison College; his life was turned around by the Christian Center, where he still lives.

His story is the bright side of a usually sad set of tales involving Anderson’s homeless. Officials estimate that on any given night there are 220 homeless in Anderson. The numbers aren’t dwindling in these tough economic times.

A national report this week doesn’t sound promising.

More than one in seven American households (not the homeless but those in houses) couldn’t put enough food on their table in 2008. That’s the highest number since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began keeping stats in 1995. The USDA tracks what is known as food security levels — the ability to have enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle.

Broken down, the number represents about 14.6 percent of U.S. households, or 49 million people. In 2008, 16.7 million children were classified as food insecure, 4.3 million more than 2007.

Suddenly a warm bowl of chili in the middle of a vacant lot becomes more valuable than we ever imagined.

Hunger and homelessness don’t always go hand in hand. But they are connected. Unemployment and the number of working poor face issues of hunger. There are links showing that people who fall into poverty during a recession have extreme problems in recovering financially. For some, the next move is into a homeless shelter.

“Whether you grow up in the ghetto or a rich neighborhood, you can end up homeless.”

Those words were also expressed by Schuster on a night when tent dwellers became more than campers. They saw the faces of homelessness and understood the need for sensitivity, sympathy, compassion and, hopefully, action.