Walk the Walk, Sleep the Sleep

Homeless teens would give anything for a night in a warm bed, but on Nov. 12, hundreds of people will give up theirs to spend a night on the street.

On that night, Centerpoint, a center for homeless teens and young adults in Britain, will host its fifth annual Sleep Out, an event during which volunteers, dubbed “Sleepers,” raise 500 pounds for the privilege of spending a night without shelter. The idea is to have people experience first-hand what it’s like to be homeless, if only for a night. This year’s event will be held in London’s Old Spitalfields Market.

"This year, we’re aiming to get at least 350 [Sleepers] and we’re aiming to raise a quarter of a million pounds [more than $400,000]," Centrepoint spokesperson Nick Connolly, 28, told MSNBC.

That's a big goal: Last year the event brought in just $145,000. But the event, which raised $65,000 in its first year, has been getting progressively bigger every year. Centerpoint itself has been around much longer — 40 years in fact — during which the charity has provided 70,000 young people with housing, health care, education, and a running start on their adult lives.

And while it may not sound like much fun, the event does have recurring participants. Many Sleepers are in banking and real estate and have had little exposure to the kind of adversity faced by the teens. Sleeper Richard Batten, 42, a former soldier whose day job is in property management says the experience is eye-opening.

"What about the poor guys who are on the street who do not know when somebody can come up and give them a boot in the face?,” Batten told MSNBC.

First-time Sleeper Jon Milward, 44, a partner at a commercial property consultancy, says the experience has cured him of some prejudices. “They’re not your archetypal old men in their 50s who’ve gone out and get drunk and been thrown out. These are kids who come from dysfunctional backgrounds, perhaps which aren’t really their making."

During this year’s event, a Centerpoint teen will speak about her personal experience with homelessness and how the center helped her turn her life around.

"I was about 17, I’d been in an abusive relationship for two years, I was using cannabis, and I was not really in a good place emotionally and physically," Stephanie [whose last name was withheld] told MSNBC. But now, she's the poster girl for second chances. "I got a permanent flat … I can finally settle down after three years [and] I’m working, for my local council, as a youth adviser."

For more information on Sleep Out and Centrepoint, visit their site here.

Photo courtesy of anna pearson via Flickr.