Winter is loitering in Minnesota this year, even though we’ve asked it to move along. Last Thursday brought a half-foot of snow, and April 19th achieved a record low of 21 degrees before the sun came up on Saturday. The 19th was also the date for Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative’s annual event, A Night on the Street.
That night, I joined 268 youth and adults from 22 faith communities to sleep in cardboard boxes in Plymouth Congregational Church’s parking lot in downtown Minneapolis. The youth raised over $25,000 for housing specifically for homeless young people, and we learned about the realities of being homeless from youth who have been there and from street outreach workers who see it everyday.