Plymouth UCC Clothing the Cold, Warming the World 2010
“Wait. You sleep outside? In Colorado? In December?”
“You’re crazy.”
“Outside? Why?”
“The youth group does what? Really? That’s pretty cool…or, er…cold.”
“But it’s, like, 10 degrees out there!”
“Well good luck with that.”
“That’s pretty amazing!”
Oh, yes. We get all kinds of comments about our annual Sleepout event. This year’s was the 6th we’ve ever done, and it was the largest one as well. The youth group kids (and their fearless leaders) sleep outside for 1 night to raise awareness about the issue of homelessness in our community and raise donation money for homelessness prevention.
“The evening was really cold, but really rewarding and meaningful. My favorite part about the sleepout is contributing to my community with some of my favorite people. I participate in the sleepout because i want to end homelesseness in Fort Collins and the world! Think globally, act locally, one issue at a time.” ~Heidi
The thing about homelessness is that we all have stereotypes and assumptions. I, personally, always thought that I was well-informed about the issue…after all, I knew better than to assume that people were poor because they were lazy! But since working with the annual Plymouth youth Sleepout, I’ve learned a lot more about homelessness in our area.
Assembling our shelters for the night
Did you know that, in Larimer County alone, we have a Food Bank that feeds over 30,000 individuals in need each year?
We also have over 800 children in the Poudre School District alone who are homeless.
50% of adults in shelters in Fort Collins work.
You have to make at least $14.00 per hour here to afford a 2-bedroom apartment or $27.00 per hour to afford an average house.
“Homelessness” includes couch-surfing, sleeping at relatives’ houses, moving from shelter to shelter, and living in one’s car. It means that you don’t have a stable place to return to each night. And there are many more people in Fort Collins who experience this type of homelessness than we might think…at least 3,000 people in our town live this way.
Donation Table
Donations, please?
The really cool thing, I think, is that our youth are aware of this and speaking out about it. They sleep out once a year in order to fight against this problem. This year, they raised over $12,000 for the Homelessness Prevention Initiative (HPI), a local non-profit that offers rental assistance to prevent families from becoming homeless. According to Sue Beck-Ferkiss, HPI’s Executive Dir., an average of $250 in rental assistance saves the city around $5,000 in emergency room, shelter, temporary housing, and rehabilitation costs that it would spend if that family did become homeless.
“I sleep out because I want to make a difference in our community. By sleeping out I feel like I raise awareness and supplies for people who are struggling expecially around winter and the holidays.” ~Lily
Our youth believe in this cause, and they help not only by sleeping out, but by assisting with the planning, contacting the media and politicians to speak at the event, and inviting youth from other churches and congregations to participate:
All the youth eat together
Northern CO Jewish Youth
St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish
St. John XXIII Catholic Parish
Heart of the Rockies
Congregation Har Shalom
Shepherd of the Hills ELCA
Unity Church
Fort Collins Friends
FC Mennonite Fellowship
It’s pretty cool, isn’t it, that so many youth can come together from so many different churches for a unifying cause?
“It was sooooo fun and a great learning experience, and it was awesome to see so many youth from various religious backgrounds coming together for one cause that is so essential to the well being of the Fort Collins community. I participate because I love to see people from different schools and faiths come together, it’s fun, and I always love to see how much money and supplies we are able to provide for people facing homelessness in Fort Collins.” ~Jonah
Sister Mary Alice Murphy lights the Hanukkah candle
At the vigil
Perhaps my favorite moment at the Sleepout was during the vigil. The vigil is an annual part of the Sleepout, when we have politicians and local homelessness activists speak and all Sleepout participants contribute a piece of the vigil from their faith background. During the portion of the service led by the Jewish youth, they brought out a menorah, since it was the second night of Hanukkah. They asked Sister Mary Alice Murphy, a revered, long-time homelessness advocate, to light the candle. This is, perhaps, the only time that a Catholic Sister has lit a Jewish Hanukkah candle at a Protestant church. Lovely!!! And symbolic of the care and power present when people unite around a life-or-death issue.
Aside from the money raised and the cooperation experienced, one of the most rewarding aspects of the Sleepout for me is to watch how it changes the awareness of our youth. “I regularly argue about homelessness at school,” Alison told me once. “Some of the other students have so many misconceptions about homelessness, but I just tell them about all the statistics about homelessness and how many homeless people work or go to school.”
An inside look
Brrr!
I have also watched our youth become more and more excited about mission and service because of the start that they get at the Sleepout. We will be heading to Denver Urban Ministries this summer to help out in homeless shelters, low-income day cares, soup kitchens, and senior centers. The youth are educated about the issues and ready to go help first hand.
One of my youth pastor friends in LA told me that he tried to get his youth group to sleep out in boxes. They refused. “We can’t sleep outside in a box!” they said. “That’s crazy!”
So, are we crazy? Probably! But in the best way possible.
And yes, it is 10 degrees out there. But we endure only one night, whereas many people live on the streets for years. And in the end, what we are able to accomplish IS pretty amazing!
