A slumber party of sorts took place Monday night at the Orlando City Soccer Stadium, as more than 50 people slept outside to better understand what homeless people go through on a regular basis.

But it’s not just about sleeping outside. The event is a fundraiser meant to bring awareness to the prevalence of youth homelessness.

  • Event organized by Covenant House Florida
  • Covenant House raised $150,000 to combat homelessness in 2016
  • Learn more at Covenant House

“It’s a great avenue for us to really talk about the issues of youth homelessness, which up until 2 years ago wasn’t what people thought about when they thought about the homeless population here in the Central Florida area,”  said Jim Gress, Covenant House Florida Executive Director.

Last year, the Covenant House raised $150,000. This year their goal is $175,000. 

The night ahead will be a long one for almost everyone.

“It is going to get cold, it’s going to get uncomfortable. But that is really the point,” said Leonard Bass, Valencia Team Captain.

Before sleeping, a panel of five formerly homeless youth spoke to everyone involved.

“It’s not always by choice, and a lot of the time it is somebody who has been through a lot. You don’t choose those circumstances,” said Lance Ramers. “None of us wanted to be homeless, they don’t want to be homeless, and just because you are homeless, doesn’t mean you have given up on life.”

Ramers, 21, is no longer homeless. He now has a job, apartment and is in school to become a fire fighter. He said all of those things happened with the help from Orlando’s Covenant House.

“You know you hear ‘useless’ and ‘lazy’ so much that you start to believe it. So it gives you a chance to build yourself back up to know that you are a human being, and that you are capable of doing of what anybody else is capable of doing,” said Ramers.

In the audience were kids from the community and the donors. But all of this is just a small taste of what life is really like for anyone homeless.

“I say that to our sleepers, we are going to sleep in our own beds Tuesday night,” said Jim Gress, Covenant House Executive Director.

Gress firmly believes that while youth homelessness is a problem, it’s not a problem that's being ignored.

“I think Orlando and Central Florida have made a real concerted effort to address this problem,” said Gress.