Participants spent one night sleeping outside of their bed in support of Family Promise
Summit, NJ – June 26th, 2021 – Family Promise, the nation’s leading nonprofit fighting family homelessness in the U.S., hosted a summer sleep-out event on June 26th, 2021. Night Without a Bed 2021 brought awareness to the issue of family homelessness and raised over $100,000 to help families across the country.
Family Promise Affiliates across the country joined the national headquarters to host this event which asked participants to sleep anywhere without a bed: cars, a tent, a treehouse, living room floor, a couch and use the #NightWithoutaBed to post a video blog or photo with a short description of their experiences. Some participants challenged friends and family to either participate or make a donation to Family Promise. You can view the results of the campaign and a feed of social media posts at NightWithoutaBed.org. Donations may be made to the campaign through July 10th.
Every year in America, over 3 million children experience homelessness. These children are 8-9 times more likely to repeat a grade, 3 times more likely to be placed in special education programs, and 7 times more likely to attempt suicide. 42% will drop out of school at some point and 47% suffer from anxiety, depression, or withdrawal.
“Family homelessness was a national crisis long before the pandemic, but the health and economic challenges of the past year have put many more children at risk of experiencing homelessness,” said Cara Bradshaw, Chief Impact Officer. “On June 26th, the community came together for Night Without a Bed and raised awareness for an issue that is often invisible.”
Sponsors for the event included Clayton, Belk, Ikea, Woodforest National Bank, KIA Motors America, Synchrony, Progressive, TJX, Kiddie Academy, and Church Mutual.
ABOUT FAMILY PROMISE
Family Promise envisions a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future. What began as a local initiative in Summit, NJ, has become a national movement that involves 200,000 volunteers and served more than 111,000 family members in 2019. Family Promise will change the future for 1 million children by 2030.
For more information, visit FamilyPromise.org.
