Giving up the warmth and comfort of beds for one night to raise money
Forty women came together recently, committed to sleeping outside at the Covenant House’s site.
They showed up dressed in layers and with only their essentials. Flattened boxes served as a near nonexistent barrier against the damp and hard Georgia clay. This year they raised over $65,000 for the Sleep Out event.
“Sleep Out is about showing homeless youth unconditional love, respect and caring,” said Director of Development for the Covenant House Kellie Glenn.
On any given night, the Covenant House assists 84-90 young people through their shelter, comprehensive programs and their independent living program called Rights of Passage.
“I think people have that image of who a homeless person is, when in fact homelessness begins much, much younger. Even when you experience or encounter an older homeless person, their homelessness probably began around our young people’s age,” said Glenn.
Sleep Out began in Atlanta in 2011 with just 28 people and raised close to $80,000, Glenn said.
“Folks come back year after year after year and it is such an impactful night,” she said.
The money raised goes toward providing safety, shelter, food and resources.
During the evening the youth ambassadors were given the platform to share their stories and to be an advocate for others like them.
“I don’t think there’s any greater way for people to understand homelessness than to sit down with a kid that is overcoming it and building resiliency,” Glenn said.
“One thing that we do at every sleep out is hold ‘Cov Café,’ where we highlight the kid’s talents. Right now we have a young man who was trained on seven different instruments. He plays the piano beautifully. Their homelessness doesn’t define who they are,” said Glenn. “It’s a situation or circumstance, but not who they are.”
Brandy Swanson, from Smith & Howard and a Rotary member, has slept out for seven years. It was life changing for her.
“Bob Hope helped me with an event and when I thanked him I said ‘let me know how I can help you.’ ” He said, “I would like you to do the executive sleep out for Covenant House,” said Swanson. “It was only because I owed him that I agreed to do it! Actually, I thought it was too big of an ask because I don’t like cold and I don’t like to raise money! Naively thought it was an Atlanta problem and I lived in Gwinnett.
Visit covenanthouse.org
Each Sunday we write about a deserving person or charity events such as fun-runs, volunteer projects and other community gatherings that benefit a good cause. To submit a story for us to cover, email us at ajc.doinggood@gmail.com.
