What is the first thought you have when you walk past a man sitting on the street, hand held up for change? How about the young woman on the steps of a community center waiting quietly for it to open?

Take one night out to dispel the myths and raise awareness of the realities of homelessness in your community.

Across North America there are millions of people who are homeless at one point or another, with an estimated 3 million people in the United States on any given night and between 200,000 and 300,000 in Canada. As we speak, there are millions more struggling to pay rent or mortgage to stay in their home.

It is estimated that one in every seven people living in shelters is a child and 788,000 children in Canada live in poverty. Many of these children’s parents are working—the hidden homeless who have jobs but can’t earn enough to afford housing.

If you sign up to participate in the One Night Out campaign, you'll receive resources that uncover the realities of homelessness across North America. Our online resources and youth programming coordinators will help your group organize a meaningful experience.

Leading up to the event, our Fact Book will help you learn about and talk through the myths and realities of homelessness. This education builds up to the One Night Out event where your group will spend a night in the school gym reflecting on the challenges facing the homeless in your community. This could involve inviting a speaker to the school, watching a documentary, holding group discussions, or all of them!

Following your one night out, we challenge you to take meaningful action to raise awareness and help the homeless in your community. This action could be, for example, a presentation to the student body on homelessness or a clothing drive for a local shelter.

Since One Night Out is about an issue that’s different everywhere, we encourage every participant to reflect on how to tailor it to be meaningful to your community or school and we’ll provide plenty of ideas to get you thinking!