With an estimated 1.35 million children homeless in the United States each year, peoples’ misconceptions of the homeless fail to recognize the rising numbers and changing population of those without homes, a University of Wisconsin professor told to students Monday at an event Monday.

Many students picture beggars on State Street as the face of the homeless, but the homeless are much more diverse and wide-ranging, assistant professor of educational leadership Peter Miller said.

The event kicked off the Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group’s Hunger and Homelessness Week, a series of events raising student awareness of local, national and international poverty, said Vijah Pai, the campaign’s coordinator.

The campaign seeks to eliminate poverty by educating students on the prevalence of homelessness and how easy life can be if you don’t experience it, Pai said.

Since the recession, the number of families and children experiencing homelessness continues to grow, with school aged children now the fastest growing group of individuals without homes, Miller said.

Miller, whose research focuses on homeless education, said many families are becoming homeless for the first time, even families with a parent who has attended college.

When discussing why people become homeless, Miller said many people associate homelessness with personal dysfunctions like addictions and mental illness.

Most often, people experience homelessness due to a lack of affordable housing and good paying jobs in urban areas, Miller said.

“We need to start thinking about [homelessness] … as a diverse population of people, not just those who we may think we see on the streets,” Miller said.

To decrease the prevalence of homelessness, Miller said urban areas not only need more housing and jobs but must also increase awareness of resources available to struggling families, in addition to strategically using resources to help those families.

In Dane County, evidence of struggling families can be seen in increased numbers of households visiting food pantries, said Chris Brockel, manager of the Food and Gardens Division of Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Inc. The group is a multipurpose agency serving people of poverty in Dane, Jefferson and Waukesha Counties.

In 2007, Dane County’s 51 food pantries served an estimated 85,000 households, a consistent number for the previous few years, Brockel said.

That number grew to 99,700 households in 2008 and is estimated to reach 125,000 this year, according to Brockel

Of those households, about 60 percent are working families who seek food near the end of the month when rent, bills and transportation leave little money for meals, Brockel said.

“The idea that people are struggling because they aren’t trying hard enough, or that they’re lazy or that they’re using the system just doesn’t play out,” Brockel said.

With Thanksgiving approaching, local food pantries will prepare to distribute 6,000 turkeys to families for the holiday, Brockel said. This number has increased from 3,600 last year to meet rising demand.

WISPIRG’s campaign aims to involve students in finding ways to fix these issues while also dispelling stereotypes about poverty and the homeless, WISPIRG Education Intern Ann Becker said.

With this goal in mind, the week’s events include a documentary screening today, a hunger banquet Wednesday, a flash mob on Bascom Hill Thursday and a service day Friday.