Sleep outside, help the homeless

COEUR d'ALENE - Family Promise of North Idaho is not done helping families. It just needs a little assistance itself.

Cindy Wood, executive director of Family Promise, said the nonprofit needs $23,000 to open again after closing in late August.

"That amount takes five homeless families with children from a threatened existence to a thriving life," she said.

A fundraiser is scheduled Friday at Community United Methodist Church in Coeur d'Alene.

People are invited to sleep overnight during the "Cardboard Box City." Organizers say the goal is to have families spend the night sleeping in cardboard boxes, simulating what a homeless person may have experienced.

Participants are encouraged to get pledges, with the money going to Family Promise of North Idaho.

Set up is 5-7 p.m., music and testimonies are from 6-9, lights out is at 10 and wake up the next morning at 7. Boxes are available at the site.

Melissa Owens, an Americorps education coordinator with Family Promise, and a student at Lewis-Clark State College, said students from LCSC, NIC and the University of Idaho are participating. They will be building a "college street" in the cardboard city, and competing against each other to see which school's cardboard dwellings are the most creative and show the most school spirit.

"We want to be involved because we do have students who have been homeless," Owens said.

Wood hopes they can raise the funds needed "to keep kids safe and warm and give their parents the opportunity for a new path to education, work and a home of their own."

She said $36,000 has come to FPNI in the last two months. The goal is to have $60,000 in reserve before restarting the program.

"It is critical that we receive your support so that homeless families aren't left out in the cold this winter," Wood wrote.

Pledge forms are available at www.familypromiseni.org.