Execs to Experience Homelessness at Covenant House Florida 'Sleep Out'
November 08 2012 - 09:00AM
Marketwired
An expected 500 executives across the United States and Canada will
experience homelessness on November 15 as part of the Covenant
House Sleep Out to Support Homeless Youth. This nationwide effort
will raise awareness for the plight of kids on the street while
raising an expected $2.5 million to support homeless and runaway
youth helped by Covenant House.
In South Florida, 21 business people will spend an uncomfortable
night on the pavement behind the Covenant House Florida shelter.
South Florida sleepers include Jan Vrins, senior executive at
Accenture, Jeff Richman, senior manager at Florida Power and Light,
Jen Klaassens, vice president of The Wasie Foundation, Michael
Kubinski, Empire Furniture, Barbara Burnette, president of My Well
Corp., Timothy O'Brien, vice president of Sprinklermatic Fire
Protection, Inc., Dave Grabosky, owner of T&G Constructors,
among others.
These community leaders and 14 other execs will begin the
evening with dinner at the shelter, followed by youth testimonials
and a tour of the shelter. At 11 p.m., participants will head
outside with a sleeping bag and a piece of cardboard for a
not-so-good night sleep. Sleepers will lie on the paved parking lot
that borders the Bonnet House property on AIA in Fort Lauderdale.
Although the lot will be lit, a nearby dumpster attracts raccoons
and other night-roving animals. To ensure safety, Fort Lauderdale
police will patrol the area.
"Even though we'll be sleeping in a controlled environment,
unlike the homeless kids who potentially face danger every night,
it's still a bit unnerving to sleep outside in the elements with
nothing more than a sleeping bag and a piece of cardboard," said
James M. Gress, Covenant House Executive Director, who is sleeping
out with the group. "Just thinking about it makes me appreciate the
comforts of home. I can't imagine what homeless kids go through
night after night."
And that's precisely the point. Executives will walk away from
the experience with the knowledge of what it's like to be
homeless.
"I can't even imagine what homeless youth experience in these
circumstances and for that I would like to pay my respects by
experiencing it myself," said Sleep Out participant Barbara
Burnette. "No child should be abandoned, living in the streets and
hungry."
"Sleepers" are reaching out to family, friends and colleagues to
raise funds in support of their sleep out efforts and benefiting
Covenant House Florida. In South Florida, the goal is to bring in
$100,000 or approximately $5,000 per participant.
The Covenant House Sleep Out to Support Homeless Youth will take
place at Covenant House Florida, 733 Breakers Avenue in Fort
Lauderdale. Participants will gather at 7 p.m. The Sleep Out runs
from 11 p.m. through 7 a.m.
To participate in the Sleep Out, contact Elisa Stone at
954-568-7914 or EStone@CovenantHouseFL.org. To make a donation,
visit http://tinyurl.com/CHFSleepOut, scroll down and click on a
team member's name.
About Covenant House Florida
Covenant House Florida's Fort Lauderdale program provides an
array of services including:
- Street outreach by foot and van
- Shelter care -- nourishing meals, clean clothes, and a safe
place to sleep
- Counseling, case management, and therapy
- Referrals
- Health services at on-site clinic
- Family reunification whenever possible
- Substance abuse treatment and aftercare
- Pregnancy prevention/teen parent education
- Education -- full-time school for younger teens, classes toward
high school equivalency (GED -- General Educational Development)
for older adolescents
- Job readiness assistance
- Transportation assistance for local referrals, job searching,
and return home
- Pastoral ministry -- voluntary spiritual guidance
- Transitional housing for older adolescents bridging into
independent living
Covenant House Florida opened in Fort Lauderdale in 1985 and
expanded to Orlando in 1995. Last year, the organization reached
more than 200 teens a-day via street outreach, crisis shelters,
transitional housing projects, and walk-in and aftercare services,
making it one of the largest private agencies serving runaway and
homeless youth in the state of Florida. It is part of an
international mission with programs in 20 cities in the United
States, Canada, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. The agency relies
primarily on support from private individuals and organizations --
not on tax dollars -- to meet the multiple and complex needs of
homeless youth.
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Contact: Cindy Schutt Email Contact 954-805-0361