Instead of ending their work week relaxing in a recliner in front of a television, participants in Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency’s homeless sleep-out will cope with boredom, fend off the cold, and sleep on parking lot pavement.

Organizers hope the event, marking Homeless Awareness Month, gives a small glimpse into the lives of people who experience such conditions every day.

“I hope people say, ‘Yeah, it sounds horrible, but I want to do this,'” said Amanda Bergeron, lead housing resource specialist for NEMCSA. “‘I want to find out what someone experiencing homelessness in Northeast Michigan has to go through.'”

Hundreds of people in the Alpena area live without a home. Some stay for a while at Sunrise Mission, Alpena’s homeless shelter. Others have found other temporary roofs over their heads, either by couch-surfing or sleeping places not fit for human habitation.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Traci Schuelke, housing intake specialist for Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency, on Friday poses in the NEMCSA parking lot with a box and blanket.

Bergeron knows of families, including children, spending nights in vans.

“People are living in their vehicles,” Bergeron said. “People are living in campers. People are living in tents. Our shelters are full. Yeah, it’s a huge problem.”

To bring awareness of Northeast Michigan homelessness and understanding of what a homeless person experiences, NEMCSA staff decided to plan a sleep-out event. Some on the staff, who have participated in such events in the past, called sleeping in a box one of the most moving experiences of their lives, Bergeron said.

The event is open to “anyone who has a heart to learn more,” she said.

Participants should eat a warm meal before they come and bring a snack if they’d like, because NEMCSA will provide neither food nor water.

Participants will have to walk to find a public restroom if they need running water, Bergeron said.

At the beginning of the event, about 6 p.m. Friday, NEMCSA staff will share information about homelessness and the services they provide.

After that, participants will be left to their own devices, without televisions or couches or late-night snacks from the fridge or the comforts of home — comforts the homeless do without every evening.

Bergeron hopes the event generates conversation about why people lose their homes and what the community could do about it.

The event marks the first time NEMCSA has attempted a sleep-out, and Bergeron doesn’t know who will show up. She and the other staff members hope at least some community members will decide to forgo a pleasant evening to learn about the struggles of their neighbors.

The sleep-out will also serve as a fundraiser as staff accept money or item donations from participants or anyone passing by.

The agency will use donations to create move-in baskets for people who recently found homes with NEMCSA’s help. Staff will willingly accept donations of towels, paper products, cleaning supplies, trash cans, or other items someone might need in a new home.

Mostly, Bergeron hopes people will come sleep in a box

Come, she encouraged the community — come experience, for an evening, a taste of what people around you experience every day — because, visible or not, homelessness is all around.

“It’s very, very real,” Bergeron said. “And I want people to understand that they can be a part of change.”