CN: March 20, 2019

Page 1

March 20, 2019

Sleeping out to fight homelessness

Around Town

By Rodrick Burton. Pg. 2

Special Section Senior Living. Pg.4

Business ARCHS awards $6.1 million to enhance regional employment efforts. Pg. 7

Features

Photo from Bigstock

Covenant House Missouri, a shelter for homeless youth, is hosting its third Sleep Out event where participants raise funds and spend a night sleeping out on the street By Charlotte Beard It’s been stated that each night, as many as 3,000 unaccompanied youth are homeless in Missouri. To help combat this problem one house is offering individuals who are not homeless to put themselves in the place of a homeless teenager by sleeping outdoors for one night. Covenant House Missouri, a shelter for homeless youth, is hosting its third Sleep Out: Young Professional Edition the evening of Friday, March 22 through Saturday morning. The sponsorship fundraiser to support the shelter and increase awareness of the epidemic among youth will take place on the grounds of the facility located at 2727 North Kingshighway Blvd. Though the Young Professional Edition is geared towards participants ages 23-40, Bridget Jones, Director of Advancement for Covenant House Missouri, shared that they try not to put too much emphasis on the age group. This edition of the sleep out aims to attract anyone just beginning their career or who

are in the very early years of their career and not able to raise $5,000 or more (the Executive Edition) but can raise $1,000. The latter is believed to be achievable with the help of the volunteer events coordinator and usage of social media tactics to attract sponsors and donors. Destinee Mentor-Richards, who moved to St. Louis in August 2018, was once part of the Associate Young Professionals Board for Covenant House in New York and participated in its sleep out geared towards those who worked in the finance industry. Mentor-Richards teamed up with co-workers and raised over $14,000. Mentor-Richards shared her advice for obtaining sponsors by encouraging those who desire to participate to be open and honest with themselves about why they want to be involved and then sharing it with the people they trust. “I think it’s always easiest for the people you trust,” stated Mentor-Richards. “Whether it

be with friends or family to say, ‘Listen I’m really passionate about this because I’m passionate about providing a safety net for kids who don’t have it,’ or whatever that reason is. Be open to sharing that experience. For some people it will be deeply personal.” The actual visual for the initiative will begin with participant check-in and time to mingle at 6:30 p.m. Friday. A tour of the facility is expected to begin at 7:30 p.m. Recognized as a provider of choice by the Youth in Need organization for their contribution to the LGBTQ community, gender identity training will be a part of Covenant House’s pre-program for the evening’s sleep out. Jones shared that 25 percent of their youth identify as being part of the LGBTQ community. “It identifies how a lot of our youth come to us with different strengths and different needs,” stated Jones. “Through different processes based on what their individual needs See ‘HOMELESSNESS’ page 2

Serving North & Northwest St. Louis County | FREE Online at mycnews.com | Vol. 98 No. 12 | 636-379-1775

Recipe, Movie & Sudoku. Pg. F-1 CLASSIFIEDS AND HOME & GARDEN. Pg. F-2 /F-3 Moore On Life, Yeggs & Crossword Puzzle. Pg. F-4

Weather FRIDAY Sunny 63/41 SATURDAY Sunny; Rain Late 63/46 SUNDAY Rainy 65/51 FirstWarn Weather

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