Business and community leaders unite to raise awareness
of youth homelessness

On March 29, 2012, 44 business and community leaders slept out to help raise awareness of youth homelessness and raise funds to ensure that homeless youth have a safe, stable place to stay.

We gathered at Spectrum’s Drop-in Center on Pearl Street to share a meal and hear comments from staff and board members. Then, despite the freezing temperatures and precipitation, participants proceeded to the grounds of the Unitarian Universalist Society to sleep out for the night. These leaders asked their friends and families to sponsor them in their effort to help mitigate youth homelessness, and collectively raised over $90,000.

Reflecting on her experience, one participant said:

"Despite sleeping with 43 others, I felt vulnerable and not all that safe. I kept imagining what it might be like for a 15 year old to be all alone with those sounds and cold night after night. At any point, I knew that I had an option and that in just a few hours, I would have hot coffee, food, my car, a shower, the day off, the weekend playing with my family, etc. Easy for me. Not easy for that 15 year old.  Life twists in ways that we often cannot understand.  Homelessness could touch anyone."