Your Diocese

Driscoll Catholic High School students participate in Sleep Out Saturday Nov. 3 at the Addison school.

GLEN ELLYN—In the shadows of the bright, white light bulbs of the marquee, a man’s bicycle was spilling over with bags and leaning against a light pole Nov. 3 near Glen Art Theatre on Crescent Boulevard in Glen Ellyn. One could only assume that all of his belongings were contained in that single two-wheeled mode of transportation.

The man sat a few benches down the street, and his hand shook uncontrollably as he tried to open a bottle in a brown paper bag. Sporting a winter coat and a knit cap, he could only take comfort in watching others enjoy the evening’s crisp 30-degree temperature. He peered through the picture windows along the street that painted an intimate picture of family and friends laughing inside cozy restaurants. Disturbing the hum drum noises of the downtown area were cheers from a roaring crowd in the distance; the man didn’t realize they were on his behalf and others in his poverty-stricken situation.

A few blocks from the apparently homeless man, a crowd of young and old good Samaritans cheered, sang and listened as CBS2’s Rob Johnson led the opening rally for the fourth annual Bridge Communities’ Sleep Out Saturday, a homelessness awareness and fundraising event. The crowd assembled in the parking lot of Bridge Communities, located at 505 Crescent Blvd., could have filled a football field.

Among those in the crowd—included participants from various organizations—including Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Aurora; St. James the Apostle and St. Petronille parishes in Glen Ellyn; St. Joan of Arc Parish in Lisle; Christ the King Parish in Lombard; St. Elizabeth Seton, St. Margaret Mary, St. Thomas the Apostle and SS. Peter and Paul parishes in Naperville; St. Irene Parish in Warrenville; Resurrection Parish in Wayne; St. John the Baptist Parish in Winfield; Holy Ghost Parish in Wood Dale and St. Scholastica Parish in Woodridge.

Over 1,500 people from 75 groups in DuPage County solicited pledges for sleeping outside Nov. 3 in solidarity with the homeless. The 2007 goal was $100,000; the event raised $75,000 last year. The funds are used to support families in the Bridge Communities’ transitional housing program—almost 1,500 people are now living self-sufficiently after completing the Bridge Communities’ two-year transition program.

According to a 2007 DuPage Continuum Prevention Providers survey, the need for emergency assistance is growing. In 2006, 34,675 people from 14,227 households received food, clothing, prescriptions or transportation in DuPage County. That was a 36 percent increase in people from the previous year.

After the rally, participants filed onto buses and loaded cars to disperse throughout DuPage County. Informal mini camps were set up throughout the county with “sleepers,” participants who had accepted pledges to simulate homeless life for one night. Some laid on cardboard boxes, others slept in tents.

About $1,000 was raised at one unique site—Driscoll Catholic High School in Addison. Laraine Parker, campus minister, coordinated the school’s first year of participation in Sleep Out Saturday. Just over 20 students participated in the simulation of a Public Action to Deliver Shelter in the school’s chapel area.

The Driscoll students started the evening’s activities by attending Mass at St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Addison. “It set the tone. It helped us get the point that we’re keeping our faith in mind,” commented Maggie Writt, a Driscoll senior. The member of Corpus Christi Parish in Carol Stream said, “I think about this. And I think about how I have a bed at night and I have my house. And I think about how God has blessed us.”

Next, the students attended the Glen Ellyn rally that drew sympathy for those in need and sparked enthusiasm for assisting them. At one point during the rally, a video featured the testimony of a Bridge Communities client that described how she had lived in a cornfield with her toddler daughter.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that before,” commented Cathy Jaskey, a Driscoll junior. On previous occasions, the parishioner of St. Philip the Apostle Parish has volunteered at emergency assistance shelters in Chicago, but she didn’t realize that the cases of devastating poverty existed in her own community.

By 9 p.m., the students returned to Driscoll and the PADS simulation began. They carried their belongings as they walked about 1 mile around the perimeter of the school. Writt said carrying her sleeping bag around the school provoked contemplation. She said, “It started to get heavy and I just wanted to sit down. I started to think about people I see walking from church to church for PADS every night. I see a lot of people walking from St. Walter (Parish in Roselle) to St. Isidore (Parish in Bloomingdale) and Corpus Christi. … My heart goes out to them.”

After the trek, the students checked themselves into the “shelter” and were served a sack lunch. Before resting their heads for the evening, the students watched a film featuring the success story of a homeless person and then recited together a night prayer. The event concluded at about 7 a.m. the next morning.