A Night in a Box Part 2

NOTE: This post was a draft from several years ago I realized to day I never published=enjoy!

I learned back in February that I would be working at the Sleep Out, Young Professionals Edition at the NYC Covenant House on March 22. And since I only had less than 3 months left to be considered "young", I decided to participate as well (just not fund raise).

My biggest angst was driving through the Lincoln Tunnel in order to get to NYC by 6pm, which, thanks to the help of the 3 others I was driving, was accomplished w/ nary a scratch. I was in charge of leading one of the group discussions w/ 2 youth from the NYC and Newark sites.  This event was BUSY, about 160 folks between the ages of 23 and 39...

I'd made a sign to help rally our staff team from South Jersey the day before.  This sign made a bit of a stir, like, "Why didn't anyone else think of that?"  I also wanted to use it to help market to our South Jersey supporters (namely Camden area) that we were represented.  I decided to post the sign on my box bed.

I snagged a spot right behind the security stand which I hoped would block the wind...but then I saw the other 10 South Jersey folk all lining up side by side and well...I didn't want to be the only one NOT sleeping out w/ them.  So I set up shop next to a colleague, crawled in around 11:30pm, and tried to sleep.

Except I couldn't...In November it probably didn't get below 40 degrees at the Executive Sleep Out...It was 29 degrees in NYC that night, just 7 degrees shy of Code Blue.  And here I was, stinging toes, wrapped up like a mummy in a thin sleeping bag, buried in my box, curled up in a ball, trying to sleep. How the freezing wind found it's way onto my skin that wasn't even exposed I don't know.  It was also LOUD. CHNY is located about 2 blocks from the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel...so cars and gigantic trucks that shook the street were zooming by alllllllll night...Plus, at the Executive Sleep Out, there were about 30 of us and I was one of the youngest. Some people had stayed up chatting but most just hunkered down and went to sleep.  This was more like a slumber party and I was one of the oldest--people Tweeting, taking videos, pictures, posting on Facebook, talking, joking around, laughing...Not that I'm complaining--I'm glad folks were interacting...but it was tough to sleep.

So tough I probably got a total of 90 minutes...and it wasn't sleep...it was that drifting in and out of consciousness.  I do remember someone waking me up at 6am w/, "Jen! It's time to get up", shimmying out of my bag, and bolting for the door to get inside for coffee. 

Ah, what a beaut! Now imagine that I had to go for a job interview...like a lot of homeless folks try and do.  Or I had to try and perform at my job...I couldn't take a shower, my face/hair was a train wreck, everything I had was shoved into a backpack.  And people shout at the homeless. "Get a job!" Probably not as easy as you think. I actually had to go straight to the funeral of a former kid who'd died earlier in the week right from the Sleep Out, and yes--I was a little embarrassed to be looking less than ideal.

One guy from our Camden team, Jamie, put together a bunch of cool videos he'd taken that night and also posted the "official" video from the event.

Check This Out  I encourage you to watch a bit...might lend a bit more perspective.

I think we're all Slept Out for now as we head into Spring...Now it's time for our Night of Broadway Starts events, golf outings, etc. until we start prepping for the Executive Sleep Out again in November (in Atlantic City this time! Spread the word!) I don't think I can ever get too much perspective on what these kids we serve, or the homeless in general, have to endure living on the streets. It was not lost on any of us traveling back in the heat-blasting van that we were going home--home to our own warm beds, hot showers, food, loved ones...but that there were folks on the streets that had to endure what we just did again...and again...and again...