A cot, car or cold concrete for a bed — the homeless face difficult decisions when deciding where to spend the night.
This month, the San Diego Rescue Mission is asking San Diegans to experience a night on the streets firsthand during its first Sleepless in San Diego event Saturday, April 27, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day.
The sleep-out — to take place at the San Diego Community Concourse in front of City Hall at Third Avenue and B Street — aims to raise not only awareness about homelessness but also empathy and funds, according to Herb Johnson, president and CEO of San Diego Rescue Mission.
Anybody can participate in the inaugural event, which is expected to attract between 300 and 500 participants, Johnson said. Sleepers are asked to contribute a $40 donation, which will be used to fund Rescue Mission programs that serve the local homeless population — estimated between 7,500 and 10,000 people.
â€ÂThere isn’t a community meeting that you can go to in this city — and I go to five or six a week — that, by the time you get to the second or third item, you’re usually talking about homelessness,†Johnson said.
While raising money isn’t the focal point of the first-time event, Johnson said he wants it to become the strongest fund-raiser of its kind in San Diego.
After registration begins at 7 p.m., Mayor Jerry Sanders is scheduled to offer a welcoming address. From 7:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., participants will assemble care packages of food, which various churches will distribute to homeless persons, Johnson said.
From 8:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Rock Church founder and former San Diego Charger Miles McPherson will speak.
From 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., various gospel choirs will perform. The night tapers off with a screening of â€ÂThe Pursuit of Happiness,†a film based on a true story of escaping homelessness and achieving success, starring Will Smith.
Participants will sleep on cots in a fenced-off area, well lit and staffed by on-site security guards, according to the event Web site at www.sdrescue.org.
Many individuals and organizations have come together in support of the sleep-out, including volunteers from U.S. Bank, San Diego Urban League, Young Professionals and Christian Youth United for Advancement of the Gospel, according to Reginald White, a vice president with U.S. Bank.
White said he realized the severity of homelessness about three years ago while driving around downtown at night and seeing young families sleeping on the street.
â€ÂYou’re seeing individuals, pretty much on the street, who were just like you and me — employed one day and unemployed the next day, and the next day, homeless,†White said.
The Rescue Mission, which raises funds through private donations, runs four spiritually based rehabilitation programs to treat the spiritual and physical needs of individuals and families, Johnson said.
The Rescue Mission has a one-year sobriety program for men and a separate program for women.
It also operates Nueva Vida Haven, the only nighttime walk-in shelter for women and children, which accommodates an average of 60 women and children each night, Johnson said.
The Rescue Mission’s Partners for Hunger Relief program collects and distributes extra food from large restaurants and convention centers at 40 locations every day.
The food helps reduce food cost to about $1.84 a meal. The mission redistributes approximately another half-million pounds of food to about 17 other agencies, free of cost, who use it to defray their food costs for similar programs, Johnson said.
For more about the sleep-out, call (619) 687-3720 or visit www.sleeplessinsandiego.org.