Reflection: My Sleep Out for Covenant House
When I first heard about Covenant House’s Sleep Outs, for a quick second I thought, "I'm not really sure I can do this."
Sleeping outdoors? Open to the elements? Not being completely sure of my surroundings? When you say it out loud, it sounds like a lot.
Then I took some time to think about how many times I've seen people sleeping out in the street because they have nowhere else to go. This is someone’s reality, every single day.
Sometimes all you need is a little perspective to make those touch choices.
Suddenly, compared to my own life, deciding to give up my bed for ONE night, seemed like a no brainer.
What is Covenant House?
Covenant House is an organization that supports youth ages 18-21 who are facing homelessness and human trafficking. They’re the only youth homeless center in the US servicing this critical time in young people's lives. Not only that, they are located in 33 cities across 6 countries doing this important work.
It’s not just about providing shelter and food, it’s about getting kids out of crisis and giving them long term support so they can thrive in this world.
After Covenant House has seen to their initial needs, they help kids gain life skills, financial literacy and job readiness. They address their mental health needs which might otherwise be ignored. Their Rights of Passage Program is a transitional living program that provides resources and counseling while the youths that are accepted to the program experience more independence.
This ensures that once residents of the program are ready to be on their own they have everything they need to be successful adults.
What is a Sleep Out?
“The Sleep Out is not about pretending to be homeless. We Sleep Out to show our solidarity with those who are — and to let the world know about the ever-growing population of young people who face homelessness.”
A Sleep Out is exactly what it sounds like:
For one evening you SLEEP OUTside.
Pretty straightforward.
Doing this allows people to not only raise awareness to this important issue, but also allows them to raise funds for all the important things that Covenant House does.
85% of this money goes directly to the kids, the rest keeps this organization going. There’s so much that goes into the dignified care and preparation for these young people that every dollar matters.
The night of the Sleep Out, Covenant House provides information, workshops and time to hear experiences directly from youth in these programs.
My Experience
There is….so much to unpack from this night.
My Sleep Out experience really opened my eyes to the different facets of this struggle, some things I would have NEVER thought of.
Here are a few takeaways:
Education:
To help us understand the struggle on a personal level the Covenant House organizers gave us a scenario to consider. If we were suddenly in a situation where we became homeless and we could only take 3 items with us, what would we choose?
Then they walked us through some of the circumstances that might happen. Maybe our item got stolen. Maybe our item got damaged in bad weather and was unusable now. So many things could have happened.
After we did the Sleep Out, they asked us again. Would we have chosen the same things? Why did our choices change?
For example, one person wished they chose a pillow initially. They didn’t realize how poorly they’d sleep without one, but wouldn’t have considered that as one of their 3 items originally.
It really made us consider what we value and why.
Experiences:
We got to meet the Covenant House residents via Zoom. They were great and shared so much with us. Truly, the least interesting thing about these kids was that they were homeless.
One story made me really emotional.
In order to have a warm place to sleep during the colder months, one kid started sleeping under trucks because they retained the heat for a while after they were out of use. Of course, he had to keep aware of when the truck might start up again and sometimes he’d sleep with his legs sticking out the sides from underneath so that the drivers would see him.
He was constantly in that survival mode.
It just really hit me, how resourceful and creative people have to be in these circumstances.
I’m 40 now and it’s safe to say, I’m accustomed to a certain way of living. If put in the same situation, would these things even occur to me? It’s a completely different mindset, and one that these kids should never have had to adapt to.
Sleeping:
My Sleep Out was in March, which is always a mixed bag for weather.
It ended up being 50 degrees with clear skies for my group. That may not sound too bad, but even with my sleeping bag, and several layers of clothing, in the middle of the night I woke up cold!
I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like sleeping outdoors during the brutally cold winter we had.
We were told it rained on the night of a different group’s Sleep Out. Some people of that group managed to stick it out, but really, they didn’t have to.
That’s the real point.
I knew in a few hours, I’d be able to go home to have a warm meal and a nice nap. As cold as I was, this discomfort was temporary.
This is someone’s everyday. Someone who should be starting their life, not figuring out how to stay alive.
Covenant House makes it possible for these kids to catch their breath and have a safe place to let their guard down.
How Can You Help?
My Sleep Out may be over but you can still donate for a few more weeks!
As it stands, my group is only $2,000 away from our goal! We’re really proud of the work we did raising money for this cause. Can you help us make it the rest of the way?
Again, your contribution goes to so much for these kids to be healthy and happy, after some really difficult circumstances. I can’t say enough about all the work that the people at Covenant House New Jersey do and how much they care about the kids they’re helping.
Thank you to everyone who helped get the word out and donated funds.
Especially now, when so many things feel out of our control, it’s encouraging to see a community rally together to work toward a greater good and invest in our future.