Young Panhandlers Taking to the Streets of Lakewood

A couple dozen teenagers are trading in their cell phones and comforts of home for freezing temperatures and cardboard boxes, all for the opportunity to panhandle on the busy corner of West Clifton and Detroit Avenue on Saturday night. 

But it’s all for a good cause.

And the young “panhandlers” are supervised.

This event — to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless in Cleveland and across the nation — is set to last from 6 p.m. Saturday until noon Sunday.

For those 18 hours, it’s meant to give the more than two dozen participants from the youth group at  a glimpse of what it feels like to not have a home, especially during one of the coldest months of the year. 

There are thousands of people homeless every night in Cleveland and more than 20,000 homeless every year in Cuyahoga County, according to the website of North East Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

This is the eighth year of the event, benefitting several area homeless support agencies, including the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, the 2012 Homeless Stand Down and Family Promise.

Participating children — from 11 years old to 18 — will gather at the church at 1375 West Clifton, on the corner of West Clifton Boulevard and Detroit Avenue.

They’ll begin constructing cardboard box shelters at around 3 p.m.

By 6 p.m., they’ll head outside to the front of the church and spend the evening asking for money from people as they pass by. The students will also be without the comforts they are used to – heat, solid shelter, food and money.

They also are prohibited from using any sort of electronics during the evening’s event. The group will be roused from their boxes 6 a.m. Sunday to resume seeking donations and will continue doing so until noon that day.

“For eighteen hours, our youth group will find out first hand what it feels like to be homeless, without warm shelter or a comforting meal on a cold winter night,” said Scott Richardson, a LCC Youth Fellowship parent who will be joining the kids at the sleep out. “The youth plan to share their reality check with the community while making a powerful statement about poverty housing. We’re looking forward to this special evening.”

For more information on the sleep out or to make a donation, call 216-789-5020 or visit the church website at www.lcc-church.org to find out more about LCC and the United Church of Christ.

Chrissy Kadleck contributed to this report.