Box City: a homeless awareness event at Sussex County Fairgrounds

AUGUSTA — Box City is an experiential learning event, held for the last five years by Pass it Along and Sussex County Interfaith Hospitality Network (SCIHN), to promote homelessness awareness to high school students. Participants will be given a light supper, hear testimonials from current and former homeless individuals and participate in exercises that will help one understand what it is like being homeless, including sleeping outside in a cardboard box. The event will take place on Saturday, April 21 at 5:30 p.m. and will end on Sunday, April 22 at 8 a.m. at Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta. Pre-registering is required and the deadline is April 13. New this year, host a “virtual” Box City with your church group, school club, or even at home. For information and/or registration contact Theresa at Pass It Along at 973-726-9777 or theresa@passitalong.org. You may also check out all the details on Pass it Along’s official website, www.passitalong.org. Fast facts about homelessness and poverty Families with children comprise one of the fastest-growing segments of the homeless population today. 13 percent of Americans live in poverty, including one in five children, the highest rate in the industrialized world. 42 percent of homeless children are under the age of 6. Almost 60 percent of Americans will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point between ages 25 and 75. There is no city or county anywhere in the United States where a worker making the minimum wage can afford a fair market rate one-bedroom apartment. The cost of rent and utilities for a typical two-bedroom apartment has increased 41 percent from 2000 to 2009. 2 million additional American children will fall victim to the foreclosure crisis over the next two years.