People sleep in street to raise awareness, money for homeless youth

People opted to sleep in the street Thursday night to raise awareness of homeless youth.

Almost two dozen people stayed outside despite single-digit temperatures as part of Urban Peak’s first Night Out for Homeless Youth.

They stayed overnight in the parking lot of First United Methodist Church off Nevada Street in downtown Colorado Springs. They started setting up camp around 9:30 p.m. Thursday and stayed outside until 5 a.m. Friday morning.

17-year-old Isaac Green is the youngest person participating in the event. He said he feels a special connection to this event because it’s geared toward helping people his age.

“I could be actually homeless. I just can’t even imagine what it would be like and I am going to school tomorrow because homeless kids have to go to school in the morning. I mean, it’s not something you can get out of,” Green said.

Tim O’Donnell said he isn’t much of a camper but wanted to brave the cold for a good cause.

“A little bit nervous, I think. Just making sure I come out with all my fingers and toes at the end of the day. But I have some good gear and I am pretty well prepared so we will see how it goes,” said O’Donnell.

Sleeping on the cold ground was an eye-opening experience for some of the campers.

“It wasn’t too bad as far as the temperature, I kind of prepared for that with my ski gear. The surface was very hard and you had to keep rolling back and forth,” O’Donnell said. “It’s not one of these things you’d want to have to do every night.”

Sarah Musick said she doesn’t regret sleeping outside and she hopes her fellow volunteers can help make a difference.

“The money is very important, but the awareness may be even more important,” Musick said.

Urban Peak Colorado Springs has raised more than $17,000 for its local youth homeless shelter. Volunteers are hoping to raise enough money to house 20 kids every night between Thanksgiving and Christmas.