VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Students at Virginia Wesleyan University are banding together raise awareness about hunger and homelessness.
Aiden Foley is a freshman at VWU and the president of the group Students Against Continuous Homelessness. He’s also the organizer of an event called Shack-A-Thon.
“Basically the Shack-A-Thon is a cardboard box sleepout," Foley said. “We’ve got a handful of teams of about five people that are each going to construct their own shack and we’re requiring we have at least one member sleep out for the night.”
The two-night, three-day event is an effort to raise awareness about homelessness.
Foley said it’s about highlighting an issue affecting scores of people across the country and Hampton roads.
“We tend to portray homelessness as an issue of personal responsibility," he said. "That these are people who haven’t been financially responsible, that have dropped out of high school, have gotten into drugs but the truth is: a lot of this is out of people’s control.”
The event also features presentations and guest speakers from Virginia Beach Housing, REACH, and the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center. Foley said he wants to start a conversation and inspire people to help those who need it most.
“For people like you and I who have always spent our nights indoors, it’s hard to imagine a night outside that isn’t camping. But the truth is, for these people this is their everyday," Foley said.
The last time the university hosted the event was back in 2017. Foley said he wanted to bring it back. He said by better understanding homelessness, he hopes more people might be inspired to advocate for better resources for people who are unhoused.
“Policies that are progressive in nature that help to fight homelessness by asking the questions, how do we get people back into houses and how do we keep people in their houses?” Foley said.
Students will construct their shacks today and sleep on the university’s lawn tonight and tomorrow night.