ACBA and YLD to Participate in Covenant House Sleep Out
On November 19th, Jon Diego, Esq. of the Dwyer Law Firm, and other members from the ACBA and YLD, will trade their warm beds for cardboard boxes and sleeping bags as part of the Covenant House Sleep Out. Mr. Diego will lead an ACBA/YLD Team as we raise awareness and garner support for homeless kids in our community.
The following message from Mr. Diego provides more details about this event:
Many of you may not be aware that hundreds of homeless youth from across South Jersey find safe refuge at the Covenant House in Atlantic City annually. Operating since 1989, the Atlantic City Covenant House location provides assistance to young people and their babies in a 27 bed shelter. Also, the Atlantic City Covenant House offers various services to help transform their lives. From basic needs-to educational, vocational, and legal services, the Atlantic City Covenant House does what it can to prevent these youth from eventually becoming part of the adult homeless population. Covenant House personnel serve under a mission of absolute respect and unconditional love towards these at risk youth. "We are choosing to be homeless for 1 night...so they don't have to be."
Aside from having a few members participate in this event itself, the YLD will hand deliver hot coffee, hot chocolate, and doughnuts to all Sleep Out participants in the early morning hours of Nov. 20th as the Sleep Out comes to an end.
In addition, I, as President of the YLD, am asking all members of the ACBA and YLD to click on the link below and make a donation to the ACBA/YLD Team effort, whether it be $5 of $500 - any amount helps!!
Thank you in advance for your support for our team and for the hundreds of youth Covenant House serves.
Details about the Covenant House Sleep Out As more and more changes come to our South Jersey region, the number of youth that come to our doors in Camden and Atlantic City continues to grow. We are determined to do whatever we can to help keep our lights on and our doors open so youth in need have a safe place to go. You can be part of the Covenant House Sleep Out Movement, to help kids get off the street, and stay off the street. Reserve a sleeping bag. Let your life be touched by a young person with much to share.
What is a Sleep Out? The Sleep Out Movement is an opportunity for all of us to come together and make an immediate and lasting impact on the homeless young people who live at the Atlantic City Covenant House.
The Sleep Out includes taking a piece of cardboard and a sleeping bag into a parking lot or along a strip of sidewalk. But the Sleep Out is not about pretending to be homeless. It’s about showing a group of homeless kids unconditional love and absolute respect - proving that you care enough about them to be uncomfortable for one night, to be vulnerable for their sakes.
The funds raised by Sleep Out participants are put to work immediately, keeping the lights on and the doors open for the thousands of kids who will seek help this year.
Our kids are changed by every interaction with someone who cares, and their dreams become a little more reachable every time they hear, “You can do it. I believe in you.” The Sleep Out offers every participant the chance to be someone who cares. Join the movement.
What is the problem ?
For homeless young people children, teenagers, and young adults basic needs like a hearty meal, a warm bed, and safe shelter are true luxuries, and the thought of anyone caring about them is barely conceivable.
Covenant House serves these kids every year, in dozens of cities across six countries, but every day brings another knock on our door another tired, cold, frightened child looking for safety and comfort, looking for a chance for something better than the hard, lonely streets.
How does a Sleep Out help solve the problem?
Young people are changed by every interaction with someone who genuinely cares for them. We see this come true the first morning after a young person has found a bed in our shelter they stand a little taller, they face the world with more courage, and their dreams become a little more reachable every time they hear, “You can do it,” or “I believe in you.”
The Sleep Out offers every participant the chance to be someone who cares. And the funds raised by Sleep Out participants are put to work immediately, keeping the lights on and the doors open for the next young person brave enough to come inside.
