Cold night brings understanding

There were about 30 of us, and we’d agreed to sleep outside this night – even though the temperature was going to dip into the 30s.

We had sleeping bags, and cardboard to put under them. But it was chilly, and the ground was hard. Most of us didn’t sleep well, and you could see that in our faces when daylight finally came.

But while we weren’t well-rested, we awoke a little better informed and more aware of what it’s like to be homeless. And that was the goal of Covenant House Georgia Executive Director Allison Ashe.

CHGA provides shelter and other services to homeless youth from ages 12-21. The recent “Executive Sleep Out,” was part of an effort to raise awareness and money for Covenant House International programs in 13 U.S. and Canadian cities.

This is the first time Covenant House International has coordinated the sleep out nationally, and it’s an especially important moment for its Georgia chapter, Ashe said.

According to Covenant House Georgia, it has 100 young people on its waiting list at any given time.

CHGA has purchased and is renovating a new facility to serve what it sees as a growing need. The new facility will allow Covenant House to provide a 60-bed crisis shelter — up from 25 beds currently. The facility at 1559 Johnson Road in Atlanta also will have room for 28 kids to live short-term while they work to establish their independence through Covenant House’s programs.

All of that will take money, so the sleep out was an effort to raise money too.

But the most important thing: it let those of us who participated feel what it’s like to be homeless, a situation that is particularly daunting — and damaging — for a young person.

The CHGA staff organized an inspiring night that began with a candlelight vigil at Centennial Olympic Park, dinner, a tour of the new facility and a basketball game for participants and the kids in its program.

It was, however, the stories the kids told that mattered most. (We met them in person, but you can watch a video at www.covenanthousega.org)

Malcolm has been in Atlanta for one-and-a-half years, homeless all that time after his stepfather in Memphis forced him to leave. Another young man was simply abandoned by his family.

Each told their stories with composure and courage, and the common threads stood out.

As young children they’d been neglected, and often abused emotionally and physically. Overwhelmed by poverty and circumstance, they were abandoned by their parents. Or they became too hard to handle as they grew up and responded to abuse with their own.

Some developed drug and mental problems, although one staff member at Covenant House said that percentage is low.

And of course, these homeless kids battle perceptions that they’ve chosen to be homeless.

Take Emily. She was first sent to a foster home at 6, she said. After years of abuse, her foster parents finally just left her at a Division of Family and Children Services office. In and out of various programs, battling mental health problems, at 21 she was homeless and found Covenant House.

Here’s what she wanted us to know about homeless youth: “They’re not homeless because they want to be. They’re homeless because they have to be. Somewhere along the way, something happened.”

Jennifer Paveglio, associate executive director, said these kids have survived incredible circumstances, but still struggle to quit blaming themselves. Until Covenant House gets involved, few have had someone to teach them basic life skills and to identify the emotional and mental problems created by years of abuse and neglect.

Covenant House also provides educational and vocational services and employment assistance. Kids also have access to therapy and physical fitness classes. The goal is to help them be independent.

On a holiday weekend such as this one, many of us enjoy an especially meaningful time around home and family. We don’t have to think about what we’ll eat tonight or where we’ll sleep.

But dozens of kids surviving on the streets of Atlanta will.