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 Clothing the Cold,
Warming the World
It’s December 1, 2007. I am cold. My neck has goose bumps. I haven’t been able to feel my feet for 4 hours. I have a cold and the frigid air is making my cough much worse. I cannot wait for the sun to rise and warm up the world. In the morning, I can return to my normal life. I will get a warm breakfast and hot coffee. I will see my warm bed again. But until then, I have a point to make. This message is worth the pain that I experience every time I move. So I snuggle deeper into my two sleeping bags and count the breathing of my neighbors on both sides of me.
I have chosen to join 25 high-school aged youth from Plymouth Congregational Church, Saint Joseph Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Covenant Church on this night. We are spending the night outside in the cold with nothing but sleeping bags and burning trashcans to keep us warm. Our message is that the homeless must survive this uncomfortable, life-endangering experience every day.
Three years ago, the youth group at Plymouth was discussing plight of the homeless and the dangers that their families experience. They decided to sleep out in the cold at the beginning of December. They hoped that people would take notice of young people sleeping in the cold, and hoped that they would be moved to donate money for the Homelessness Prevention Initiative (HPI), a local non-profit that provides rental assistance to those on the brink of homelessness.
The first year of the “Clothing the Cold, Warming the World” sleep-out, a homeless man was sleeping in his car. He came out, thanked us, and gave $5, saying that families facing homelessness needed the money more than he did.
This year, we collected $8500 in donations, 38 bags of clothing, and 8 boxes of food. We are delighted. The cost for HPI to assist a family is an average of $229 per family. Three months later, 93% of those families are still in their own homes. In contrast, the cost of services for a homeless family during an average period of homelessness is $5,000. HPI is saving the community large amounts of money and safeguarding families from the tragedy of homelessness.
I currently sit in my home, the cold of the night gone except for one thing. The cold that I had while sleeping outside has progressed into bronchitis. I have the money to see a doctor and get medication and my cough has all but subsided. But I realize that my health was in jeopardy from spending one night in the cold, and I remember that the homeless do not have money for medications and doctors. I remember that homeless children experience up to six times the rate of illness and developmental delays as their peers, and I am saddened by these figures.
We hope to grow this event and involve as many faith-based organizations as possible. Our goal is simple: raise money for to prevent homelessness, and raise awareness of homelessness and empathy for those who experience it. Although I have believed in and worked in homelessness prevention and homeless programs as long as I can remember; the night in the cold changed me deeply. I have changed my perspective from a long term working issue to also allowing for short-term help like giving someone hot coffee, gloves, and toe warmers. I would like to encourage each of you to try this daring and chilly pilgrimage.
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