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Family Promise of Greater Phoenix is asking the community to give up their beds for a single night to experience what homeless families experience on a regular basis.

The virtual event, Night Without a Bed, will raise awareness and funds for families experiencing homelessness. Participants are encouraged to ask their friends and family to do the same and to ask for pledges and donations for Family Promise. The nonprofit organization rescues primarily first-time homeless families and their pets and helps them return to independence.

“No child ever dreams that they might face homelessness, that they will need to sleep in a car or on the street. Unfortunately, this has become the norm for far too many children in Arizona,” said Ted Taylor, Executive Director at Family Promise of Greater Phoenix, in a statement. “We hope the community will spend a night without a bed so that other children don’t have to.”

Family Promise has a goal of raising $100,000 through the Night Without a Bed campaign. Funds raised will help shelter and rehouse homeless families across the Valley. Join the live-streamed event on Family Promise’s Facebook page at 6 p.m.

RSVP, and pledge donations, here. 

Currently, Family Promise is sheltering more than a dozen families at day centers in south Scottsdale. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Family Promise relied on its network of volunteer churches and synagogues to shelter and feed the families they serve while Family Promise assisted these families on their journeys back to self-sufficiency. Family Promise has had to suspend its community-based model to protect its volunteers and families from the potential spread of the virus. This operations shift has cost the nonprofit money and resources to continue its mission to shelter and find permanent housing for homeless families.

One in 16 children in the U.S. experiences homelessness by the first grade. These experiences can have lasting negative effects on children, as children who face homelessness are more likely to drop out of school, repeat a grade, suffer from depression, and attempt suicide.