Cardboard forts and camping tents may look like fun and games, but there's also a serious lesson about homelessness.
"Most of them don't even have a place like this, don't have shelter. They don't have as much things provided.," says camper Allie Selman.
"They don't have as much stuff as we do. They have to sleep out in the cold. While we have warmth and air conditioning," adds camper Emma Lambeth.
Family Promise of Chattanooga camped out this weekend to teach kids and adults alike a little about the hardships.
"It gets people kind of an idea of what it's like to be homeless, sleeping outside, eating from a soup kitchen, so it gives them kind of a perspective in that matter. So it's a great way to show kids especially what it's like to be homeless," says Chairperson Mary Lynn Morse.
The most important lesson? Homelessness is not just limited to adults.
"People really don't know about family homelessness, that it's a problem so much because you don't really see that out on the streets. Usually what you see is like grown men," says Ella Stites.
"There are families that live one pay check to pay check, and a catastrophe, an event like a medical illness a job layoff can really derail a family very quickly into homelessness. That's what family promise is trying to prevent as well as help those that find themselves in that situation," says Morse.
Money raised from the event will go to Family Promise, and Organization that has helped over 650 families, including 12 hundred children become self sufficient and get off the streets.
"It's not just trying to put somebody back into a home. It's trying to prevent homelessness in the future as well. So if they need to work on their GED or get a job or work on their interviewing skills or their budgeting, we h
ave classes for all that to try and help them get better prepared in order to not be homeless again in the future," adds Morse.
For more information on how to help log on to
fpchatt.org
